Kolkata: Man sells fake eggs, arrested

The Kolkata Police on Saturday arrested an egg-seller in the city for allegedly selling artificial plastic eggs.

Mohammed Shamin Ansari, who was detained on Friday by the Kolkata Police Enforcement Branch for allegedly selling plastic eggs, was arrested on Saturday morning after questioning, a senior officer of the police said.

Meanwhile, a team from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, led by Mayor-in-Council (Health) Atin Ghosh, and Kolkata Police Enforcement Branch officials raided various markets in the city today and seized eggs which were later sent to the laboratory for testing.

The KMC team visited the seller in the Muchipara area from whom Ansari had bought eggs. "One crate of eggs has been seized from the wholesaler who sold the eggs to Ansari. We will also collect samples from other shops in the market and send them to the laboratory for testing," Ghosh said.

Ansari, the police said, had bought eggs worth Rs 1.15 lakh from the wholesaler. "As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, food adulteration is a punishable offence. If these eggs are found to be life-threatening, the offenders may face punishment like life imprisonment and a huge fine," Ghosh said.

Ansari, who was booked on the charges of fraud and criminal conspiracy by the police, was remanded to police custody for four days when produced at a city court.

Complaints of artificial plastic eggs being sold were also received from Canning in South 24-Parganas district following which an enquiry was started, the state police said.