Counterfeit shoes manufacturing unit busted in northeast Delhi; owner held

The Delhi Police has busted a manufacturing unit producing counterfeit shoes of leading international brands and arrested its owner from northeast Delhi, an official said on Friday.

The unit, allegedly involved in the large-scale production of fake shoes bearing labels of Nike, New Balance, Adidas and Skechers, was being operated in Sonia Vihar, police said in a statement.

The accused, Sandeep Singh (44), a resident of the same locality, was apprehended during a raid, they said.

“The operation was launched following inputs received on January 28 regarding an illegal manufacturing setup of counterfeit branded sports shoes in northeast Delhi. Police conducted the raid along with company representatives,” a senior police officer said.

At the premises, a full-fledged shoe manufacturing unit was found operational. The authorised representatives confirmed that the unit was producing shoes unauthorisedly using logos and brand names of their companies, the officer said.

Police recovered six heavy heating press machines, nine printing screens and 131 dyes used for printing logos and brand names of international sports shoe companies. Six PVC rolls and large quantities of raw material used in the manufacturing process were also seized.

“In addition, 9,616 upper parts of shoes of various brands and 1,667 sticker sheets bearing logos of New Balance, Nike, Adidas and Skechers were recovered from the spot,” police said.

A case under relevant sections pertaining to cheating, forgery and copyright violations was registered, and Singh was arrested at the scene.

During interrogation, Singh told police that he studied up to Class 12 and came to Delhi from Basti district in Uttar Pradesh in 2000. He initially worked at a printing press in Chawri Bazar, where he learnt printing techniques, before starting his own printing business. He later allegedly converted that business into a counterfeit shoe manufacturing unit.

Further investigation is underway, police added.