Police in Noida’s Sector 63 stopped a Mahindra pickup truck following a tip-off that it was carrying 14 quintals of adulterated paneer. Upon inspection, authorities uncovered an alleged interstate racket that had been supplying adulterated paneer to Delhi-NCR markets for at least six months.
The truck driver, 32-year-old Gulfam from Shajapur village in Aligarh, was taken for questioning. He led police to a production plant in Sahajpura village, where three more men were arrested: 36-year-old Guddu alias Rish, who operated the plant, and distributors Ikhlaq (30) and Naved (20). All four men are from the same Aligarh region, officials said.
Police said the racket operated for six months, selling adulterated paneer to street vendors and small eateries in Delhi and Noida. It was priced between Rs 180 and Rs 220 per kilogram, nearly half the genuine price.
Police revealed that the adulterated paneer was made through a precise process. At the plant, large sacks of starch-heavy beans labelled “Red Bull Sortex Clean” were soaked and boiled. Chemical whiteners and poster colours were added to mimic the colour and texture of real paneer. An unidentified blue chemical was used to curdle the mixture, creating a paneer-like consistency. After cooling and straining, it looked like genuine paneer blocks.
Another batch was made using milk powder mixed with water or a liquid called “saprota.” Palmolin oil, commonly used in industrial food processing, was added for a creamy texture, followed by chemicals to solidify it into blocks.
A case has been filed at Sector 63 police station under sections 274, 275, and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said more arrests are expected as they continue tracing vendors and buyers connected to the racket.
Food safety officers called the ingredients a serious health hazard after the arrests. “Palm oil and poster colour are not just adulterants — they are harmful to human health,” said one official. Samples of the seized paneer have been sent for lab testing, with legal action under the Food Safety and Standards Act expected once results are confirmed.
Police stated, “The accused made adulterated paneer from the recovered materials and sold it as genuine paneer, deceiving shopkeepers in the NCR.”
Adulterated paneer can sometimes be identified using iodine tincture: real paneer shows no reaction, but starch-based fake paneer turns black when iodine is applied.
Videos from the police raid show officers unwrapping the fake paneer from cloth packaging. The plant, hidden inside a plain building in Sahajpur, was stocked with sacks of powder, oil drums, and a machine used to shape the mixture into cheese-like blocks.
