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Fake watch racket busted in city

Special Correspondent

— PHOTO: R. RAGU

big catch: The seized wrist watches displayed at the Police Commissioner’s office in Egmore on Friday.

CHENNAI: The city police busted a fake watch racket here on Friday and seized duplicate wristwatches of ‘Titan’ and ‘Sonata’ brands worth Rs.1.5 crore.

Surprise checks were conducted at three places in the Periamet and Flower Bazaar police station limits, where hundreds of fake watches were on sale. Five persons have been taken into custody.

Based on a complaint lodged by the management of the Titan group that many shops in the city were selling fake Titan and Sonata products, Commissioner of Police R. Sekar formed a special team to investigate the case. Under the supervision of Joint Commissioner of Police (North Zone) M. Ravi, it raided the shops and took possession of 2,922 watches and 5,073 wristwatch dials.

K.B. Basker, Abdul Raheeb, Abdul Rahman, Abdul Kareem and Peer Mohammed were arrested on various charges, including cheating and violation of provisions under Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958.

Mr. Sekar told reporters on Saturday that the fake watches were assembled in Chennai by a gang that purchased spare parts from northern destinations.

The accused offered a two-year guarantee against the one-year offered on original watches. The police were looking into the source and supply network of the accused and the area of distribution in the State.

According to A.R. Srinivasan, sales head and leader of ‘Spurious Watches Elimination through Aggressive Tactics’ (SWEAT) project of the Titan group, the fake watches were assembled at a cost of Rs.110 and sold at a profit of at least 700 per cent.

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