Duplicate toys resembling characters from Walt Disney and Marvel comics have been seized from three toy stores in Burrabazar.
Police have started a case of copyright violation and cheating against the owners of the stores based on the complaint by the representatives of Disney Enterprise Inc and Marvel Character Inc.
These two US-based companies had apparently found out about the sale of duplicate toys during a survey they were conducting in various parts of the country.
Based on the complaint, the enforcement branch of city police raided three toy stores in the ground floor of Lakshmi Katra market on Canning Street and found a large number of alleged counterfeit toys on Wednesday.
“We have started a case under sections of the Copyright Act and that of cheating and criminal conspiracy,” said an officer of the enforcement branch.
The police said the two US-based companies had hired a firm in New Delhi to carry out a survey on the sale of their products across India.
“While conducting this survey they found that a large number of duplicate toys were being sold in pockets of central Kolkata,” said the officer.
Based on a specific tip off, raids were conducted and a large quantity of fake toys were seized.
The police said the duplicate of a toy set that would originally cost Rs 5,000 were available here for less than Rs 500.
The owners and in-charges of the three shops have been summoned by the police to ascertain the source of the duplicate toys.