Ahmedabad: The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) on Tuesday registered a case in connection with an alleged counterfeit bidi and cigarette racket, while the Special Operations Group (SOG) launched a probe after seizing suspected fake tobacco products worth Rs 3.57 lakh from Juhapura area of the city.

According to the complainant, a long-time representative of a bidi manufacturing company, he was responsible for identifying and reporting instances of counterfeit products in the market. Acting on prior inputs, officials had earlier this month raided a residential premises in the Juhapura.

Representatives of multiple companies later inspected the seized goods and reportedly found major discrepancies in packaging, printing quality, tobacco content and product size compared to genuine items. Variations in holograms and labels further strengthened suspicions that the goods were fake and illegally manufactured.