Tirupur: A 39-year-old Nigerian national and a 46-year-old man from Coimbatore were arrested for duplicating vests of a leading brand at Avinashi here on Thursday.The arrested were identified as Paul Emmanuel of Kena, a garment buyer who used to import garments from the dollar city, and S Sivakumar, of Kalapatti in Coimbatore, who works as a middleman to buyers and garment manufacturers.The two were arrested when they came to Avinashi to manufacture vests under the brand label of Tantex, which is owned by a city-based knitwear company. Police have seized 18,000 vests, 1,800kg fabric and 70,000 labels from the duo.According to an official source, Kandasamy, of Bridgeway Colony, had earlier lodged a complaint with the Cheyyur police saying Sivakumar and his accomplice Selva alias Selvakumar, of Muthuchettipalayam near Avinashi, had been illegally manufacturing vests under the label Tantex, the trademark owned by his company since 1992.Investigations revealed that the duo had placed an order for 90,000 vests under the label Tantex with a knitwear unit on Cheyyur-Puliyampatti road. “We found that Emmanuel had given the particular order to import them to Nigeria, where the brand has a good market share. The importer has placed the order to make substandard quality of vests,” a police officer said.When police learned that Emmanuel has entered the country with business visa, which was valid up to January 30, and he was staying along with Sivakumar in Coimbatore, they planned to arrest them. “The two were caught when they visited Avinashi. Selvakumar is on the run,” the officer said.Police have booked the duo under Sections 482, 483, 486, and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As the probe progresses, we may add sections related to misuse of trademarks if needed,” the officer said.The two were produced before a local court, which remanded them in judicial custody. They were later lodged at the Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai.

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