Seven years ago, two brothers from a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district would be seen supplying milk on a motorcycle to a nearby dairy. Today, they are said to be owners of a Rs 2 crore milk chilling plant, milk tankers, three bungalows, SUVs and agricultural land, according to police.
It’s not a magic wand that has changed the fortunes of Devendra Gurjar (42) and Jaiveer Gurjar (40), who live in the village Dhakpura of Morena district, some 465 km from Bhopal. Rather, it is their illegal business of manufacturing synthetic milk and its by-products that are slow poison for consumers, an investigation of Madhya Pradesh police’s special task force (STF) has revealed.
Along with Devendra Gurjar, a few other dairy owners in Chambal whose names appear in an FIR became rich in just five-seven years by allegedly selling synthetic milk not only in Madhya Pradesh but also to renowned companies in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the investigation has shown.
Synthetic milk is manufactured by mixing glucose, urea, refined oil, milk powder and water. Other chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, are also used. Some of the by-products manufactured are synthetic cheese and mawa.
Rajesh Bhadoria, STF superintendent of police, said, “During investigations, we found that six of the main persons — Devendra Gurjar, Jaiveer Gurjar, Ramnaresh Gurjar, Dinesh Sharma, Santosh Singh and Rajeev Gupta – had amassed huge wealth. Their standard of living has changed totally in just a few years. They covered the journey from being small dairy owners to millionaires very fast. We are investigating the economic aspects and will forward the case to the income-tax department too.”
All six have been booked under section 420 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, Bhadoria said.
