Bhopal

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has arrested the owner and managing director of a Madhya Pradesh-based food company for allegedly selling adulterated dairy products and laundering proceeds of the crime.

Kishan Modi, owner and MD of Jayshri Gayatri Food Products Pvt. Ltd. (JGFPPL), was taken into custody on March 13.

He was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Bhopal on March 14, which remanded him to ED custody till March 18, the agency said in a statement.

According to the ED, the company sold dairy products under the brand name ‘Milk Magic’ and allegedly manufactured adulterated items by replacing milk fat with palm oil and other harmful chemicals.

The agency said the products were sold in the domestic market and also exported to several countries.

To enable exports, the company allegedly submitted forged laboratory test reports from reputed laboratories to the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) in Indore to obtain export clearance.

Investigators found that several of these reports were forged and had not been issued by the laboratories mentioned in them, the ED said.

The agency alleged that the company laundered Rs 20.59 crore through the illegal activity.

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The money laundering investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Bhopal Police in August 2023 against the company and its promoters.