Pune Police Takes Action Against Shopkeepers Selling Substandard Electrical Wires Under Popular Names, Materials Worth Rs 2 Crores Seized

Pune, February 10, 2021: Fake and substandard electric fittings and wires are sold in large quantities by the traders for financial gain, risking the lives of the common man in Pune and across Maharashtra. Many counterfeit wires are sold under the name of reputed companies and are used by citizens for construction and as electric fittings in houses which often lead to short circuits, fires in the buildings, loss of life, and property across the State, including Pune.

To prevent serious accidents caused due to the use of fake and substandard wires, Pune’s Commissioner of Police Amitabh Gupta has launched a campaign to take action against electric hardware traders selling such fake wires.

As part of the campaign, Crime Branch Unit-4 on February 6 took action against Dinesh Singh Rajpurohit, owner of Pawan Electrical located in Budhwar Peth, for selling fake wires under the popular wire company Polycab.

A total of Rs 43 lakh worth of cardboard boxes with the name of the popular company and packing materials were seized from the warehouse of the trader. A case in this regard has been registered at Faraskhana police station under Sections 63 and 65 of the Copyright Act. Police Inspector Sandeep Jamdade is investigating the case further.

Based on the information received by Police Inspector Rajneesh Nirmal regarding the crime, officers from Crime Branch Unit 4 along with police officials raided Bhagwati Electrics shop and warehouse located in Tapkir Galli of Budhwar Peth Electric Market.

The police found the electric shop and its storage warehouse packed different brand names stickers like Sunflex Cables, Gold Line, FOR Cables, KCP Cables, HiFi Insulated Cables, Edison Cables along with spare wire bundles, empty boxes, and other materials used for packing during the raid.

The police officials searched for the ISI license of the brand on the official website of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on the spot. After which, they found out that the ISI license of the mentioned brand was canceled/expired. The cops were convinced that the electric wire of the brand is fake and of inferior quality.

On February 8, the Crime Branch Unit 4 and BIS Office located at Market Yard in Pune received information that the said brand had been banned and expired.

Upon receiving this information, Police Sub-Inspector Jaideep Patil lodged a complaint against Ramesh Kumar Anandlal Suthar (43), the owner of Bhagwati Electric Shop which falls under the Faraskhana police station. A case has been registered against Suthar in this regard.

On February 9, the police took action against Bhagwati Electric Shop and raided all its godowns in connection with the crime where a total of Rs 2 crore worth of packing material was seized for further action.

When Ramesh Kumar Suthar, the owner of Bhagwati Electric Shop, was further questioned, he said that he had bought the fake wires and the materials required for packing them in bulk from other states’ electric market and sold them to builders through his electric shop in Pune.

The police also found out that around 15 to 20 other electric hardware shopkeepers in Pune are selling fake and substandard wires. The fake wire business involves many wealthy professionals and its threads are spread across Maharashtra.

The Crime Branch Unit-4 team will go to other states for further probe in connection with this racket and search for the persons producing and selling fake wires.

This action was taken under the guidance of Commissioner of Police Amitabh Gupta, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Morale, Deputy Commissioner of Police Bachchan Singh and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime-2) Laxman Borate.

The team included Police Inspector Rajnish Nirmal, Assistant Police Inspector Sandeep Jamdade, PSIJaideep Patil and police personnel Mahendra Pawar, Sachin Dhawale, Pravin Bhalchim, Ramesh Rathod, and Shital Shinde.