Vijayawada: In a joint operation, officials of food control, taskforce and Bhavanipuram police busted a spurious chilli powder racket at Gollapudi. The sleuths raided Sudha Enterprises, and found huge quantities of substandard chilli powder, which was made from stem, seed and waste chilli.Sudha Enterprises, run by Grandhi Narayana Rao, used to re-pack the inferior chilli powder, which he procured it from a person named Satyam, and sell it without any bills. He claimed that Satyam is from Guntur, and delivers chilli powder at his door step. Rao did not reveal Satyam’s address, or contact details to the officials. Narayana Rao has been selling chilli powder under various brand names without any license.The assistant controller of food safety department in Krishna district, N Purnachandar Rao, said substandard chilli is procured at Rs 30 per kg, and repacked, and sold for anything between Rs 50 and Rs 60. The price of chilli powder in the market is between Rs 150 and Rs 180 per kg.The officials also found that Narayana Rao was making some other products such as ‘idli karam’, ‘sambar karam’, ‘karivepaku karam’ by mixing the substandard chilli, with black gram powder and salt. Purnachandar Rao said that even the black gram powder and other products used to make spurious products are of substandard in nature. Narayana Rao’s targeted customers were those who run small eateries on push carts and those who sell local evening snacks such as ‘bhajji, punugu and pakoda’.The sleuths seized 600 kg of chilli powder, 100 kg salt and 100 kg black gram from Sudha Enterprises. A case has been registered under Sections of Food Safety Act - 2013. “Samples have been sent to a laboratory for analysis, and we will initiate legal proceedings based on the results,” said Purnachandar Rao.

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