Duplicate Toner Racket Busted

The Chandigarh Police busted a multi-lakh racket of the sale of duplicate toners in Chandigarh and arrested two persons. According to the police, they had received a complaint from the company’s officials, regarding the sale of duplicate items of their brand name. Police said the accused were selling duplicate toners at two busy shops located in Sector 20 and 22, the area that is also known as a mini-technology hub in the city. They were identified as Rajnish Kumar, a resident of Mohali, and Kamaljit Singh, a resident of Sector 23.

“Rajnish was selling duplicate toners at his shop in Sector 22, whereas Kamaljit was running this illegal business from a shop in Sector 20. After receiving the complaint, we laid a trap and sent decoy customers to buy toners. Then we checked the authenticity of the bought machines with the genuine pieces. From the look and packaging, nobody can even make out that they are fake pieces. We had to seek the help of engineers to ascertain the difference,” said a police official here.

Police said that the accused were selling the toners in the range of Rs2,500 to Rs3,500, whereas they were procuring them for a mere Rs1,000 to Rs1,500. ” This is a multi-lakh racket and the accused were buying fake pieces from a sales agent. We are trying to find out their source and would conduct raids at the manufacturing unit in the coming days,” said a police official here. The accused duo have been booked under sections 63, 63-A and 68 of the Copyright Act, and under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. This is not the first instance when police have cracked down on fraudsters selling fake products. Earlier, the police have busted gangs who were selling fake brands of clothes, watches, shoes, cosmetics, and soft drinks.