FIR lodged 3 weeks after fake paneer bust

Surat: City police on Thursday registered a criminal case against the operator of an analogue paneer manufacturing unit in Pandesara after laboratory tests found seized samples to be substandard.The accused, Maheshkumar Sharma (40), has been booked for allegedly manufacturing and selling analogue paneer, as well as for offences related to adulterated food and cheating.The action follows a raid conducted on March 3 by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of city police in coordination with the Surat Municipal Corporation's food and safety department. The raid was carried out at a unit in Bhidbhanjan Society in Pandesara based on specific intelligence inputs.Police said Sharma, a resident of Althan and a native of Chandesara village in Rajasthan's Udaipur, was operating the unit. During the raid, authorities seized 1,401kg of loose paneer worth Rs 3.08 lakh, along with machinery used in the manufacturing process, including a pasteuriser, homogeniser, venturi machine, storage equipment and weighing devices, collectively valued at around Rs 25 lakh.Officials also recovered 1,000 plastic bags for packaging, 3,000 stickers labelled "Non-brand loose analogue paneer," a 10-litre can of acetic acid, 28 empty palm oil tins, and 16 tins containing 15 kg of palm oil each. The total value of seized goods and equipment was estimated at Rs 28 lakh.Food safety officers sealed the suspected paneer on-site and collected samples for testing, which were later declared substandard.