Video of raid viral as unhygienic Tata Salt manufactured and sold to consumers

A video, which supposedly shows a group of people packing Tata Salt in an unhygienic manner is circulating on social media. One can see several people picking up the Tata Salt packets lying on the floor and manually filling salt in them. Facebook user Dinesh Kumar posted the video with the claim, “Tata salt manufactured at begumbazar”. According to the claim, the video is from Hyderabad’s Begum Bazar area.

One Arvind Tank also tweeted the video.

देखो दोस्तों किस तरह से कुटीर उद्योग के नाम पर टाटा का नमक बनाया जा रहा है डुप्लीकेट👇👇👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/qRp9289ukU

— अरविन्द टाँक 💯% फ़ॉलोबेक़ (@tankarvind) October 17, 2019

Several other individuals on Facebook shared the video with a similar narrative.

FACT-CHECK

“The video pertains to a raid conducted by the Tata Salt team along with the Punjab Police against counterfeit salt operations, just last week in Dera Bassi. This raid was covered by various media outlets, one of which you can see in the image,” reads a statement issued by Tata Salt on October 15, 2019. The company said that the raid discovered salt being packed in fake pouches resembling Tata Salt packaging.

On October 10, the police conducted a raid in an industrial unit which was packing and selling counterfeit grocery, cosmetics and other products at Sundra village in Mohali’s Dera Bassi subdivision. “The owner has been identified as Krishan Kumar of Manimajra. Around half a dozen employees, including children, have also been rounded up for questioning,” stated a report published by Hindustan Times on October 11, 2019.

According to the article, Mubarikpur police conducted the raid on the complaint of a Mumbai-based company which deals with complaints against counterfeit products. “When the raid was conducted, around half a dozen workers were found packing spurious salt in Tata Salt packets,” per Hindustan Times. The police informed that the unit was counterfeiting Aashrivaad flour, Tide and Surf detergents, Lakme Kajal, MDH spices and Harpic toilet cleaner.

In conclusion, a video of the raid conducted by the police in an industrial unit where counterfeit products were packed and sold in Punjab’s Mohali was shared with the false claim that it showed a Tata Salt factory where salt was unhygienically packaged.