The police have arrested Sukhkaran Singh and taken possession of the weapon used in the incident. (Express Archive)
Fake stickers, heater guns and borewell water – that’s how two men, apprehended on Saturday, were producing fake Bisleri water bottles and selling them to vendors in the open market, the Delhi Police said.
The investigators also seized 127 fake Bisleri Stickers, 55 fake Bisleri bottle caps, 387 counterfeit barcodes, and seven heater guns and lighters.
On Thursday, representatives of mineral water giant Bisleri paid an unusual visit to the Subhash Nagar police station. Their bottled water was everywhere in the North West Delhi region, reportedly even where they had not supplied it.
The police team talked to vendors and, using manual and technical surveillance, got to know about a factory in the Shakarpur area from where a large number of Bisleri bottles were allegedly being supplied.
“The team collected all the necessary information and after verifying the authenticity of the information, conducted raid at the premises in Shakarpur. Two people were apprehended and 20-litre water bottles bearing counterfeit stickers, cap, and barcode of ‘BISLERI’ were seized along with the heater guns used for pasting the stickers on the bottles,” Bhisham Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), North West, said.
The two apprehended, Sikander, 30, and Ashish 19, told the police they were operating the joint together. “They disclosed that the manufacturing unit was established last year and had since been actively engaged in the production of counterfeit Bisleri bottles,” DCP Singh said.
The accused also told the police about the source of their water supply. A man named Vishal Gupta, allegedly extracted water using illegal boring techniques and sold it to the accused for packaging. Another case was registered against him under sections 5 and 15 of the Environment Protection Act at Subhash Place police station.