Hyderabad police have busted a large-scale tea powder adulteration racket operating across the city, arresting 10 people associated with it, police said on Friday.
Police also seized over 3,000 kg of adulterated tea powder and 1,500 kg of expired tea powder from 15 locations raided over two days, officials said.
The raids were conducted at 15 manufacturing units allegedly involved in making and supplying fake tea powder to roadside tea vendors and prominent restaurants. Of the 15 locations raided, adulterated material was found at 10.
The accused procured low-quality tea powder from vendors in Kolkata, Kerala and Assam and adulterated it using synthetic food colours — including Sunset Yellow FCF, Tartrazine and total dye colour — before repackaging it under different brand names and selling it as genuine product, police said.
About 100 kg of jaggery and artificial colouring agents were also seized from the premises.
The economics of the racket were straightforward. The adulterated tea powder was being purchased at Rs140–150 per kg and sold at around Rs 250 per kg after processing — nearly double the procurement cost, with the margin built entirely on chemical enhancement and deception.
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DCP Task Force Gaikwad Vaibhav Raghunat said the health stakes were serious.
"The adulterated tea powder was then supplied and sold to other dealers and tea vendors while falsely projecting it as a genuine product. These activities pose serious health risks, including stomach disorders, allergies and long-term health complications," he said.
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— Hyderabad City Police (@hydcitypolice) April 24, 2026
Acting on credible inputs, the Hyderabad Food Adulteration Surveillance Team (H-FAST) conducted coordinated raids at 15 locations across the city, targeting units involved in… pic.twitter.com/hbUGHOZjoK
The 10 arrested have been identified as Paresh Rajan from Kompally, Sanju alias Pati and Rajesh from Petlaburj, Satish from Musheerabad, Naveen from Bowenpally, Narsimha from Asifnagar, Chunnilal Chaudhary from Rajendranagar, Narsimulu from Borabanda, Ravinder from Bidar and Waseem from Mallepally.
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Cases have been registered under the Food Safety and Standards Act and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against all accused.
H-FAST advised the public to purchase tea only from reliable sellers and report suspected adulteration to the authorities, warning food business operators that involvement in such illegal practices would lead to strict legal action, including criminal prosecution.
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