RUDRAPUR: Authorities have unearthed a NCERT textbooks racket and seized over 11.3 lakh pirated copies valued at nearly Rs 11 crore from a warehouse in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur.
The crackdown began late Saturday night when a police team led by SHO Manoj Raturi raided a warehouse in Keeratpur in Udham Singh Nagar district after intercepting a mini-truck laden with books. Acting on the information provided by the driver, police broke open the warehouse door on Sunday morning in the presence of tehsildar Dinesh Kutaula and chief education officer Harendra Mishra and discovered a massive stockpile of books suspected to be pirated.
Preliminary findings prompted the local authorities to alert the NCERT, following which a two-member team from Delhi reached Rudrapur to conduct an inspection. The officials confirmed that the books were illegally printed, citing the absence of the original NCERT watermark and substandard printing quality.
“Original NCERT textbooks are printed only at ISO-certified printing presses under strict quality standards. The ink and printing quality of the seized books indicate local production,” said Deepak Kaushik, assistant production manager with NCERT.
Further examination revealed glaring discrepancies, including poor paper quality, inferior binding and fake marking, “ACERT”, in place of the original NCERT watermark. Samples of the seized books have been collected and sent for forensic analysis, while additional specimens will be examined at the NCERT headquarters in Delhi.
Officials estimated that seized books in the warehouse were worth Rs 9-10 crore, while those loaded in the intercepted vehicle were valued around Rs 1 crore. A case was registered, and a detailed investigation was underway.
Authorities suspected the involvement of a wider inter-state network. Initial investigations suggested that pirated books were supplied to several states, including UP, Chhattisgarh and Telangana through a distribution chain operating from large warehouses and covert printing units.
SSP Ajay Ganpati said, “A case has been registered against godown owner Rajesh Kumar Jain, Sandeep Kumar (who had rented the warehouse) and manager Shahrukh under relevant BNS sections.”
