The seized fake products at Buddha Colony police station on Thursday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Police on Thursday raided Zee Sahib Super Market in the upscale Boring Canal Road area and seized fake deodorants, body sprays, soaps and other products.

A team from Buddha Colony police station conducted the raid after officials of Hindustan Unilever lodged a complaint with Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj, accusing the popular departmental store of selling counterfeit products.

The seized consignment includes fake Pears and Dove soaps (originally manufactured by Hindustan Unilever). The police also recovered bogus men’s grooming products and deodorants bearing the brand name of Brut. These products also bear the name “Unilever” though the company does not manufacture these. The police said the seized products are worth several lakh in the market.

A case has been lodged against the proprietor of Zee Sahib Super Market, Sanjay Kumar. “The seized products have been sent to the government laboratory for testing,” said a senior officer at Buddha Colony police station.

Neither Sanjay nor anyone else from the store was available for comment.

The complainants — officials of Hindustan Unilever — revealed how they had chanced upon the fake products. Field officer Anjani Kumar said: “Our products are usually manufactured in New Delhi. Some of our officers visited the store a few days back and bought some of the products bearing our brand names. These were sent to our Calcutta lab for testing and it was found that their chemical composition did not match ours.”

Hindustan Unilever operations head Mustafa Hussein said: “The fake products can be very confusing for the customers. For instance, the Pears soaps bear the name Unilever instead of Hindustan Unilever.”

He added that the bar code of the seized products was different from the company records.

Using fake products can cause a number of diseases. “These can lead to rashes or spots on one’s skin, and also hair fall and greying of hair,” said dermatologist Dr Shashi Tripathi.