PANJIM, AUG 12
Joel Vaz of Shantadurga Scientific Traders in Margao allegedly charged with storing spurious Borosil glasswork products has refuted reports in the media that he was into manufacture of the seized items.
Vaz was arrested by the Crime Branch on Wednesday and later released on bail.
Vaz further mentioned his arrest by the Crime Branch was like a blot on his business which he has been running for the last 35 years in partnership with one Gajanan Keni. “We both have been supplying, and not manufacturing, Borosil glass products to most of the school labs in Goa and none of these have made a single complaint against us,” he claimed.
The Borosil dealer maintained they used to buy the glasswork products from several stockists in Mumbai and some in Goa. “When I don’t manufacture these products how can they be spurious?” he questioned.
Vaz maintained he has the original receipts for the products bought from the stockists and I have nothing to hide to save my reputation as the only dealer of the company. “The police say the seized items are worth Rs 50,000, but they shouldn’t cost more than Rs 12,000,” he asserted.
Vaz’s counsel Adv Rajiv Gomes observed the police should not have rushed for an arrest without having any scientific confirmation of the complaint lodged by officer of Borosil Glasswork Ltd.
Adv Gomes said the seized items have now been sent to a lab for analysis and the report is expected in the next few months. “What if the report is negative? How is my client supposed to react?” he asked.
Vaz was arrested on a complaint that he was manufacturing the glasswork products in the name of Borosil Glasswork Ltd located at Kandivli in West Mumbai.
