Eight stores raided for selling dubious Gillette products

The Mumbai police (crime branch) has raided eight retail stores across the city in a court-directed drive against spurious (read smuggled) Gillette products.

A release issued by the company said that the raided outlets are located in the upmarket areas like Lokhandwala, Juhu and Seven Bungalows in north Mumbai.

The police has summoned the proprietors of Fantasy, Imagine, Roman Supermarket, Lo Price and Gaamy for further investigations in order to ascertain the source of the illicit products that include razors, cartridges and other personal care products.

"Unscrupulous traders have adopted illegal routes to sell grey and infringing products in India without paying the requisite duties and taxes," the release said.

Managing director of Gillette India, Zubai Ahmed, said, "The illegal trade of grey and counterfeit products causes an annual loss of over Rs 2,500 crore to the FMCG industry in India. This also means a corresponding loss of over Rs 9,00 crore to the government in taxes and other levies. The loss is huge if we take into account the qualitative and quantitative loss to the consumers."

Gillette had similarly initiated raids across the country in important cities such as Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Noida.