Police seize Rs 10 lakh worth of fake JCB spares sold as CAT brand in Paradip
PARADIP: Police seized a large quantity of China-made duplicate spare parts for JCB machines being sold under the CAT brand name in Paradip on Tuesday.A team comprising personnel from Paradip Lock and Model police stations, led by additional SP Smruti Ranjan Kar raided JK Engineering showroom at Paradip Dochhaki and seized the China-made fake spares of CAT brand worth around Rs 10 lakh.
Sources said hundreds of JCB machines are being used for construction projects in the major industrial port town of Paradip. Since the original spares are expensive, some unscrupulous traders allegedly procure cheaper China-made parts and sell them at higher prices under the CAT brand name. Such illegal practice has been previously reported from Kolkata and Delhi where police conducted raids and seized duplicate spares after receiving complaints from CAT’s local authorities.Field officer of CAT Machines India Mahendra Singh alleged that local traders are procuring JCB spare parts online at low costs and selling them at inflated prices under the CAT brand. The original parts cost between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000, while the China-made spares are bought for Rs 700 to Rs 1,000. This illegal trade has been going on in Paradip and other parts of the country, he added.
IIC of Paradip Lock police station Rashmi Ranjan Dash said during investigation, it was found that the fake spare parts were procured online from China for local resale. Police seized 29 packets of these China-made spare parts. A case has been registered against the showroom owner, but no arrests have been made so far. Further investigation is underway.On the other hand, owner of JK Engineering Manoj Kumar Dwibedi claimed that the spare parts were old stock imported from China by mistake. These parts could not be returned and were stored in the showroom.
