Patna, Aug. 8: The adage “welcome to the real world” seems to have taken a beating, thanks to criminals who have flooded the market with real-looking fake products.

An plethora of items in the capital, right from medicines to health drinks, sports goods, cosmetics, automobile spare parts, machine, detergents, food items and others are counterfeit, sources say.

The racket of lookalike and fake products thrives in the underbelly of the city despite raids and checks.

The sources add that the capital has turned into one of the major hubs for manufacture, sale and supply of fake goods. Police are finding it increasingly difficult to curb the spawning fake racket.

Sources attribute the booming fake trade to patronage provided to racketeers by influential people, including those in khadi and men in uniform.

“There are talks about many people in the business community not happy with the raids on shops and godowns. Many of them have the patronage of politicians and police. It is not possible that the local station house officer does not have any inkling about a fake product being manufactured in an area within his jurisdiction. Each month, a certain percentage of profits is paid to keep their mouths shut,” a police officer told The Telegraph.

Sources said the appointment of two more Indian Police Service officers as city superintendents of police (SPs) in Patna could be linked to the complaints from the trader fraternity about the frequent raids.

The raids on such factories and godowns storing counterfeit goods have picked pace in the recent past.

Between February and April, 17 locations were raided leading to the recovery of myriad fake goods, ranging from sports items, engine oils, medicines, spare parts of cars and two-wheelers, cosmetics, detergents, energy drinks and others.

On July 27, a raid on three godowns under Pirbhore police station led to the recovery of a truck full of medicines, all physician samples, which were being sold illegally.

On July 15, in three back-to-back raids, the police recovered a huge quantity of fake health drinks for children as well as a veterinary medicine manufacturing-cum-storage unit, which was running without any permit or licence. Another raid was conducted at a house lead to the recovery of a huge quantity of chemicals stored for years.

Earlier, raids at two places on June 9 under Pirbhore police station led to discovery of locally-made watches bearing the Titan tag on them as well as jute sacks containing counterfeit Glucon-D packs.

Raids were also conducted on four shops in Khazanchi Road area on June 6 yielded a large quantity of counterfeit sports items.

Sources said the Patna City area was one of the major hubs of the counterfeit racket.

“It has a huge market there. We have recovered other counterfeit products like fake cosmetics and automobile parts. Areas like Khajekela, Bahadurpur and others are known to have several outlets and godowns manufacturing and storing fake items. Most of these businesses run in mostly two or three-storeyed ones inside lanes. They have their own packaging units too. Though raids have been made, these catches don’t make much difference as it has a huge market,” another police officer said.

Sources said in most of the recent raids, the local police stations were neither informed nor their assistance sought.

“It is a fact that these people act in connivance with a few policemen. Hence, the raids have been very discreet with only a few police personnel. There is a chance that the raids might not be successful if the local police station is involved. The team works on the basis of tip-offs from sources,” the officer said.

The police said the fake goods have a good demand in other places as well.

“The fake products are exported to Calcutta, Jharkhand and Delhi. There is a high demand for these items in the rural areas. The manufacturers have their agents in many other places and the business runs unhindered,” the police officer added.