Counterfeit pesticide racket busted in Lodhika

Rajkot: The special operations group (SOG) of Rajkot Rural police busted a racket involving the production of counterfeit pesticides that were then sold as branded products, seizing stock worth over Rs 25 lakh in Lodhika taluka.Police raided at multiple units in Makhavad, Virva and Ravki villages, where companies were allegedly producing counterfeit pesticides. Four persons associated with these companies have been arrested. Separate complaints were registered at Lodhika police station under the Copyright Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.The units were found to be making and marketing products under the name of a leading Indian multinational company that makes agrochemicals and pesticides.Rajkot DSP Vijaysinh Gurjar said a raid on Shakti Chemicals in Virva revealed that counterfeit pesticides were being manufactured using the brand of a leading company. Stock worth Rs 14 lakh was seized from the unit. A case was registered against Dhaval Korat (28), a science graduate from Rajkot.In the raid on Green Bharat Chemicals in Ravki, counterfeit pesticides bearing the name of the company were recovered. Two persons — Sahil Timbadiya (30) and Kashyap Akoliya (35), both residents of Rajkot — have been booked under the Copyright Act. Sahil has an earlier case for a similar offence lodged at Shapar-Veraval police station. Another raid at Adikon Pesticides Pvt Ltd in Makhavad village led to the seizure of stock worth Rs 1.95 lakh. A case was registered against Dhruv Patoliya (27).The investigation revealed that the accused were copying patented formulations, mixing chemicals at their own facilities and selling them in the market under deceptively similar brand names. These pesticides were used for weed control and for pests affecting crops such as groundnut and cotton.Samples of the seized pesticides will be sent to a laboratory in Gandhinagar for analysis, and more charges may be added based on the report.The preliminary inquiry indicates that the accused had been running the racket for about the one-and-a-half years. They were selling the products online and via distributors. Police suspect the businesses had turnovers of several crores a year.