Five people were arrested by Delhi Police for running a fake ghee manufacturing unit in Delhi's Bawana. The police also recovered 284 cartons of the fake ghee and other raw materials and tools used in the operations.

The accused have been identified as Sandeep, Akash, Ratan, Rohit and Ankesh, said the police.

The accused started the manufacturing unit before the lockdown began as they had lost their jobs. They manufactured ghee using oil, chemical-based colourants, essence and other chemicals, the police said.

Sandeep owned the unit and had employed the other accused, who are his friends, to help him, a senior police officer said. He said that he made ghee using refined oil, Dalda Vanaspati, colour and essence.

ALSO READ| International drug cartel busted, 23 kg heroin smuggled from Myanmar via Manipur seized

The accused were selling the fake ghee in different parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, he said.

A raid was carried out at the manufacturing unit on Friday based on specific inputs, the officer said. Food and Safety department took samples from the factory to check for harmful substances.

Investigation revealed that Sandeep and his friends bought the raw material for making the fake ghee from nearby stores. They would put labels of local brands on the packing of their ghee to cheat retailers, he said.

A case has been registered against the accused for cheating, adulteration of food and sale of noxious food, he added.

ALSO READ| Karnataka Police seizes over 1,300 kg marijuana during raids at 3 locations

The police recovered 65 cartons of ready duplicate Ghee, 7 tins of Desi Ghee, 212 tins of refined oil, 149 tins of Dalda Vanaspati, desi ghee flavour (essence), liquid colour, 3 gas stoves, 5 big gas cylinders, 1 electric sealing machine, 1 stamping machine, 1 electronic weighing machine, 1 silver pouch packing machine, 1 tin sealing machine, 600 empty tins, 1 hot gun, stickers, rappers, tetra pack and packing material in large scale, and 2500 new empty plastic jars. A tempo was also found parked in front of factory. On checking, 212 cartons of ready duplicate desi ghee were found loaded in the tempo.