A joint operation by Odisha’s Berhampur Police and Military Intelligence Unit has recovered counterfeit digital pattern army combat uniforms from a garment shop in the southern Odisha town, police said on Monday.
Acting on the specific inputs received from Military Intelligence Unit, Gopalpur, police have made a seizure of as many as 488 metres of counterfeit army combat uniform from the shop.
The new digital pattern combat uniform was unveiled by the Army on January 15, 2022 and the old uniform is in the process of being replaced, said a statement issued in this regard.
A case under Sections 420 and 486 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 63 Copyright Act has been registered in this connection and further investigation is underway, police said.
The Army has obtained Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the design and camouflage patterns for a 10-year period, extendable for another five years.
This has been done to prevent unauthorized vendors from manufacturing and selling the combat uniform in the open market, as it was posing a serious security threat for the Indian Army.
As per orders, the new uniforms have to be sold only in the Army’s unit-run canteens.
Due to the IPR, the Army now possesses exclusive rights to the design and can file a complaint against any unauthorized sale of this design, police said, quoting the army intelligence unit.
The shop owner had procured this uniform from Kolkata and who in turn has procured it from Ludhiana. Further investigation is going on to verify the place of manufacturing and the people behind it, added the statement.