Showrooms were counterfeit wholesalers

Cops plan to bust the racket

Cops plan to bust the racket

If you thought only street shops at Janpath and Sarojini sold counterfeits of your favourite branded shirt and well done-up showrooms offered a guarantee of originality, here is an eye-opener.u00a0

In a raid conducted at the Karol Bagh market, a hub for garment shopping, three people, including owners of two showrooms, were arrested for selling counterfeits of reputed shirt brands.

The raid, conducted on Tuesday afternoon by a team of police officials from the District Intelligence Unit, Central district, and officials of a private investigating agency, EIPR (Enforcers of Intellectuals Property Rights), was ordered after a complaint was lodged by a particular garment company. The well-known garment company had found out through a private investigating agency that the Karol Bagh market had many showrooms selling fakes of its brands.

Caught in the act: One of the shops at Karol Bagh that was raided

The police raided two shops Charas and Shivamu00a0in the Kalam Main Wali area of Tank Road.

Dhirender Singh, spokesperson of EIPR, said, "Along with the police we raided the two showrooms and arrested their owners. They had been involved in the counterfeit business for the last three years. There are many more such shops in the market." The arrested owners were identified as Pankaj alias Patelbhai and Kalyan Singh.

The police seized around 150 fake shirts from the two showrooms. Sources in the police said the shirts were manufactured at a factory in the city. The cops said they were investigating the case and trying to unearth the counterfeit garment racket flourishing in the city. "The shops were also acting as wholesalers and were supplying fake garments to many shops in northern India. We are interrogating the accused and investigating the case to trace their links," said a senior police official, wishing anonymity.

A case under Section 63 of the Copyright Act and Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Daryaganj police station.