BJP leader's son booked for printing fake NCERT textbooks

A joint team comprising STF, Military intelligence (MI), and cops carried out a raid at a warehouse near Kashigaon in Meerut district, around 2:30 pm on Friday.

The operation was based on a previous tip-off by sleuths who had been monitoring the area for anti-national activities before Independence Day.

Over 1.5 lakh copies were seized in the raid and six printing machines were confiscated.

As a result of the raid, 22 workers (17 men and five women) at the warehouse were apprehended, including the supervisor Shubham (30).

The female workers were reportedly let off later, but the male workers were still undergoing interrogation.

A report by Times Now has said that the counterfeit material used to be transferred in vehicles with the BJP logo to avoid arousing suspicion.

Sanjay Solanki, the STF sub-inspector, has filed an FIR in the Partapur police station against Sachin, Shubham, and four others under various IPC sections.

Apart from the warehouse, the gang also had a printing press at Mohkampur. Sachin is the owner of the warehouse and the printing press, confirmed police.

Some wholesale and retail booksellers are also involved in the racket, police said.

The scam was operating out of Meerut, and it was found that the fake NCERT textbooks, mainly of Classes 9-12 mathematics, physics, and chemistry, were being circulated in states like Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Police have confiscated around 364 types of fake textbooks from the Achhonda warehouse.

Additionally, they also received information that Gupta was previously involved in printing duplicate UP board textbooks.