The Pimpri Chinchwad Police on Tuesday initiated a probe after condoms, stones, and gutkha were found in samosas served at a canteen of a major automobile company.
The police official said five people had been booked, and the case theory leads to a purported revenge plot.
Detailing the shocking incident, the police official said that among the five people booked in the case, two of them allegedly joined the subcontracting company, Manohar Enterprises (hired to supply snacks to the canteen). They were tasked with contaminating the food and defaming the new supplier. While the other three accused (Rahim Shaikh, Azhar Shaikh, and Majhar Shaikh) were partners of another such firm, SRA Enterprises, that had been removed earlier after an adhesive bandage had been found inside samosas.
"The three partners had allegedly planted these two workers to ensure the firm that had the samosa contract now would get defamed," the police said.
Significantly, Catalyst Service Solutions Pvt. Ltd. had a contract for providing food items to the major automobile firm canteen. Which in turn had given a sub-contract to another local firm, Manohar Enterprises, for providing snacks to the canteen.
The police said that after some of the automobile firm employees found condoms, gutka, and stones in the samosas, Manohar Enterprises' staffers were questioned over the incident, and the investigation found that two workers, identified as Firoz Shaikh and Vicky Shaikh, had allegedly contaminated the food.
"We registered a case under IPC sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). The two accused told us they are employees of SRA Enterprises and were sent by its partners to Manohar Enterprises to adulterate food supplied by the latter," the Chikhli police station official said.
The SRA Enterprises wanted to smear the market reputation of Manohar Enterprises, the police official added.
