When a factory inspection team of the Industrial Safety and Health Department visited the plant, the unit was closed.

“A criminal case in a Vadodara district court was filed against the owner, Kirit Shah, for operating the plant. The case is still on and the judgment is pending,” said Prateek Shah, the newly-appointed Joint Director of the Gujarat Industrial Safety and Health Department in Vadodara. “Our factory inspectors went to inspect the plant in March 2007. They found the plant closed,” Shah added.

Interestingly, the Food and Drug Control Administration said that the department has nothing to do with the plant, although in business directories and yellow pages, one would find that Sakha Organics manufactures not just paraffin wax and organic hair dyes, but also basmati rice and groundnut cream for skin.

“The company owner had listed paraffin wax and hair dye, for which we do not issue licences,” said D M Patel, Assistant Commisioner, Food and Drug Control Administration.

Even as the unit was shut, it continued sending its turnover to various American and Indian web directories listing various industries of the country.

According to websites such as bizsearch.com and easy2source.com, Sakha Organics is an industry in India producing organic products such as Jatropha oil, basmati rice and hair dyes, with a turnover of over 1 million dollars (Rs 12 crore).

Meanwhile
NCB officials said that 110 litres of methamphetamine were also seized in a raid that took place on November 21. “We were not sure if it was really methamphetamine. But after our experts tested the substance, we found the results to be positive. There were 110 litres of meth in semi solid form,” said Sanjay Patel, an NCB official. NCB officials estimate the value of the contraband to be of several crores. Sources in the NCB have also confirmed that Kirit Shah’s residence in a “posh locality of Vadodara” was raided by the sleuths that led to the seizure of some incriminating documents about the clandestine laboratory housed inside Sakha Organics premises.