Mumbai: The city police on Wednesday filed a criminal case against a Chembur-based shop owner after he was allegedly found stocking and selling a Pakistan-made cosmetic product despite a govt ban on imports from the neighbouring country.While the city crime branch booked the shop owner and took over the probe to find through which channel the banned product was smuggled into India, some online websites were found selling them.The product being sold was Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene, manufactured in Lahore, Pakistan, with ‘Made in Pakistan’ on its packaging.The police said the sale of the product violated the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification dated May 2, 2025, which prohibits the import of goods originating from Pakistan.According to the police, on Tuesday, the officers attached to Crime Branch Unit-6 received specific information about the product being sold at a shop named Tony Land at Kamalkunj on Central Avenue Road in Chembur.Acting on the tip-off, a police team conducted a raid at the shop on the evening of June 23. During the operation, a decoy customer purchased the cream, following which officers entered the premises and inspected the product. The packaging reportedly also carried batch details, identifying it as a Pakistani-manufactured cosmetic item.Police seized five boxes of the cream valued at Rs 2,495. One box was preserved for chemical analysis, while the remaining four were seized as evidence. During questioning, the shop owner, identified as Sanjay Shah, 52, allegedly failed to produce the buy bills or import documents for the product and stated that it was procured from a trader in Crawford Market.Based on the findings, a case was registered against Shah under Sections 318(4) and 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sections 3(3) and 11(2) of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, and Sections 18(1) and 27 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.Further investigation is underway to trace the source and supply chain of the banned cosmetic products, police said.
