Man held for printing pirated NCERT books

A 38-year-old man has been arrested for his alleged involvement in printing pirated NCERT books, police said Tuesday.

The accused, Manoj Jain, a resident of Shahdara, was arrested Monday following a raid at his printing unit at Mela Ram Farms in outer Delhi’s Mandoli here on September 18, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said.

According to police, Jain has been into the printing business for over eight years and started the unit in Mandoli in January 2020.

During the Covid-induced lockdown, he suffered heavy losses in his business, they said.

And to cover up the losses, he started printing pirated NCERT books since these books are in large circulation across the country, they added.

The DCP said around 5,000 pirated books and printed material of NCERT valued at approximately Rs 35 lakh was recovered from the unit along with watermark of NCERT and latest offset printing machines.

A case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Copyright Act following the raid on September 18, police said, adding Jian had been absconding since then.

The raid was conducted along with vigilance officer and production officer of NCERT, New Delhi after a tip off, they said.

“These poor quality pirated books were being supplied in the market at cheaper rates, causing huge revenue loss to NCERT. The offset unit was publishing pirated NCERT books of class 6th to 12th of different subjects,” the DCP said, adding further investigation is underway.