Twelve pair of shoes in boxes having the tricolour design on the covers were recovered from a shop in Almora, with locals speculating they were dispatched by China, police said today.
The shoe boxes with the design of India’s national flag were received by a local shop owner, who reported the matter to the police, Almora Superintendent of Police P Renuka Devi told PTI over phone.
Locals speculate that the recovery of the shoe boxes from Almora, which is not very far from the Sino-Inmdia border in Pithoragarh, might be a handiwork of China to insult India, amid the ongoing stand-off at Dokalam.
The consignment was received by the local shop owner from a distributor, named Tamanna Footwear, at Rudrapur in Udhamsingh Nagar district on Thursday, the SP said.
The Rudrapur-based shop owner, however, said he had received the consignment from a supplier in Delhi.
“An FIR has been lodged against Tamanna Footwear as the national flag design on the footwear boxes seems intended to hurt Indian sentiments,” she said.
The SP said nothing could be definitively said about the origin of the shoes or the boxes.
“Investigations are on and we are trying to ascertain from where the boxes originated,” she said.
However, when contacted, Udhamsingh Nagar SSP, Sadanand Date, said, “The consignment was dispatched from the Karol Bagh Sunday Market in Delhi, where Chinese goods available at cheap prices.
“That is the reason there are speculations that the shoes were manufactured in China. But there are no clear indication that they originated from that country.”