Delhi Police Bust Fake OPPO, OnePlus & Realme Factory: India’s grey market problem just got a very public exposé. The Anti-Gang Squad (AGS) unit of the Delhi Police Crime Branch has busted a large counterfeit mobile accessories racket operating in parts of Delhi, seizing more than 10,000 fake mobile accessories allegedly sold under the names of popular smartphone brands including OPPO, OnePlus, and Realme.
Two people have been arrested. The operation has dismantled what police are describing as a full-scale manufacturing and distribution network — not just a grey market reseller front.
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What Was Found
Delhi Police sealed two godowns in Karol Bagh and a full manufacturing unit in Moti Nagar. The haul included:
| Seized Items | Details |
|---|---|
| Fake accessories | 10,000+ units branded as OPPO, OnePlus, Realme |
| Machines | 8 industrial manufacturing machines |
| Printing press | 1 — used to replicate brand packaging |
| Godowns sealed | 2 in Karol Bagh |
| Factory sealed | 1 in Moti Nagar |
| Arrested | 2 persons |
According to the Crime Branch, the accused were involved in manufacturing, packaging, and selling fake accessories — branding them as original or duty-free products. The counterfeit items were imported from China and later repackaged locally for sale in Delhi’s retail markets.
How Convincing Were These Fakes?
This is not the corner-shop knockoff story of a decade ago. The operation involved a dedicated printing press producing packaging that sources describe as nearly identical to genuine retail boxes — right fonts, the right colours, and the right holograms. A first-time buyer picking up an accessory at a Karol Bagh stall would have had virtually no way to tell the difference without opening the box.
That level of sophistication — a printing press, industrial machines, multiple warehouses — points to an organised criminal enterprise, not opportunistic resellers.
Karol Bagh: India’s Counterfeit Electronics Capital?
This is far from the first such raid in the area. Delhi Police have busted multiple counterfeit smartphone operations in Karol Bagh and its surrounding markets over the past 18 months:
In December 2025, four men were arrested in Karol Bagh for illegally assembling fold and flip smartphones using Chinese spare parts, affixing fake IMEI numbers marked “Made in Vietnam” and selling them as genuine units for ₹35,000–₹40,000 each. Over 512 counterfeit devices were recovered.
A month earlier, Delhi Police’s Operation CYBERHAWK uncovered an IMEI tampering factory on the fourth floor of a Karol Bagh building. Five people were arrested and 1,826 phones were seized, along with specialised IMEI-rewriting software — phones that were then distributed to criminals because tampered IMEIs make devices nearly impossible to trace.
The pattern is clear: Karol Bagh has become a recurring flashpoint for organised counterfeit electronics operations, with each bust revealing a more sophisticated setup than the last.
Why This Matters for Indian Smartphone Buyers
At a time when brands like OnePlus, OPPO, and Realme are hiking prices in India, the grey market fills the gap with products that appear identical to genuine ones at lower price points — chargers, cables, earphones, and cases that carry brand logos but none of the quality or safety testing behind them.
Counterfeit chargers and batteries in particular carry real safety risks — they lack the surge protection and thermal management of genuine accessories and have been linked to fires and device damage across multiple documented cases in India.
How to Protect Yourself
Always buy accessories from authorised brand stores, official e-commerce listings on Amazon and Flipkart, or brand-verified retail outlets. If a charger, cable, or earphone is being sold at 40–60% below the official MRP, it almost certainly is not genuine — especially if purchased offline in electronics markets.
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