Calcutta, May 20: Toothpastes to tubelights. Textbooks to tobacco. CD players to car filters. There is a deluge of duplicates in the city and its neighbourhood.

Products of all kind ? they look deceptively similar to the originals ? are sold in the grey market that stretches from Chandi Chowk in central Calcutta to Baruipur in South 24-Parganas, police said.

Even by modest estimates, the market is worth crores of rupees, with electronic goods finding favour among young buyers.

“It is amazing that fakes of almost every single item of daily use are readily available. The duplicates are packaged and labelled immaculately. What has taken us by surprise is the way fake electronic gadgets are flooding the market,” said a senior officer of the enforcement branch.

A racket was busted after the arrest of Sheikh Roshan Ali in Chandni Chowk and Mohammad Faisal at Ripon Street on April 21.

About 20 fake DVD players along with remote controls were seized from the duo.

Ali told police during interrogation that he used to assemble DVD players using cheap Chinese components obtained from dealers in Delhi.

“Most of the big players in the city’s grey market use cheap Chinese parts. This helps the traders keep the price low, particularly for electronic items,” explained another officer of the enforcement branch.