Jamshedpur: The health department's food safety wing on Tuesday raided a confectionary store, a wholesale shop and workshops of two reputable sweet brands in Sakchi and Jugsalai to investigate possible adulteration in the run-up to Diwali.

The shops under scanner were Gokul Sweets along Medicine Line in Sakchi and a khoya wholesaler on Tank Road. The Jugsalai workshops of confectionary chains Gangour Sweets and Chhappan Bhog were also inspected.

Dr Gulab Lakra, food safety officer who led a two-member team, said the plan was to raid four khoya suppliers on Tank Road for suspected adulteration, but three managed to flee.

"While we were collecting samples from the first shop, the owners of the remaining three got wind and downed shutters. They fled before we could question them," she said.

At Gokul Sweets, the team collected the samples of kaju barfi, besan laddoo and all chhena-based sweets. "In Jugsalai, similar samples were collected from the workshops of Gangour Sweets and Chhappan Bhog," Lakra said.

The food safety officer said during Diwali, the prices of chhena and khoya surge and hence, many sweet shops used synthetic substitutes.

"We shall send the samples to the state food lab in Namkum for analyses. If the reports are incriminating, we will penalise shops," Lakra said.