Bhubaneswar: As many as 45 jewellery shops were raided by the officials of legal metrology under the State food supplies and consumer welfare department in four days between November 22 and 25. The raids were conducted in six cities including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Balasore.
As per a statement issued by the Information and Public Relations department, 27 out of the total 45 jewellery shops were fined a total of Rs 3.77 lakh after errors and defects were found in their weights and measures system. Compounding notices were also served to two jewellery shops.
Irregularities in weights and measures system were detected in eight out of 10 jewellery shops that were raided during the crackdown in Bhubaneswar between November 22 and 25.
Similarly, errors were also found in five out of eight jewellery shops in Cuttack. A fine of Rs 27,000 and Rs 35,000 were collected from the violating shops in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, respectively.
Earlier, during a discussion in Odisha Assembly on November 20, the State food supplies and consumer welfare minister Ranendra Pratap Swain had informed that 42 jewellery shops in the State were raided during the last two years on the charges of cheating consumers.As many as seven jewellery shops in Cuttack, six in Balasore and four in Khurda were found to have cheated consumers in weight and measure of ornaments.
The fresh raids in six cities were conducted after Odisha Assembly Speaker asked the concerned minister whether shops in Berhampur and Bhubaneswar were raided or not. Later, the minister had assured to look into the matter.