Pune: Officials from the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pune Zone-1, carried out a raid at M/s BG Goyal & Company in Market Yard on July 14 and confiscated 4,172 kg of food products valued at Rs 8,14,630, the agency said.
The outlet is owned by Pravin Goyal, father of Siya Goyal, who has been named as an accused in the Ketan Agarwal death case. The FDA, however, said the enforcement action should not be understood as being tied to that criminal probe, ANI reported.
Investigators collected four samples for laboratory testing amid concerns the items might be substandard or unsafe. The sampled brands included turmeric powder, sesame seeds and soya mini chunks. The seized inventory consisted of 598 kg of one turmeric powder brand, 1,258 kg of another turmeric powder brand, 538 kg of sesame seeds and 1,778 kg of soya mini chunks.
The FDA said the raid was prompted by allegations that a storeroom was being run without a licence, by labelling violations and by suspicions over the safety and quality of the foodstuffs. Food Safety Officers KL Sonkamble and Pratik Jadhav executed the operation under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner Nilesh Khose. Pune Zone operates under Joint Commissioner (Food) DW Bhogawade, the agency added.
In a separate development linked to the high-profile murder probe, a Pune Rural Police team visited the Khatu Shyam Temple in Rajasthan to investigate reports that accused Siya Goyal and co-accused Chetan Chowdhury had solemnised a marriage there, a senior police official said on Wednesday. The police sought CCTV footage from the temple as part of their inquiry but found no recordings.
Earlier media reports had alleged that Siya Goyal and Chetan Chowdhury had secretly married at the Khatu Shyam Temple. Both are currently held in judicial custody at Yerawada Central Jail in connection with the Ketan Agarwal murder case.
