In 2019, InstaQuest received a project that fits the proverb. It was a renowned FMCG company in India that found that a Bindi Card bearing their name/mark (with no further information on the card) was being sold from a small stall in Sadar Bazar, Delhi.
The challenge was to find the distributor and locate the manufacturer in North India’s biggest wholesale market – Chandni Chowk – where multitudes of small players deal in infringing product(s) with no details or source mentioned on them.
In regular course of Investigation, we start from the target entity manufacturing the products, however in this case we had to reverse the pattern and hit the streets to find the product and then to trace-back to the origin of the product.
Was it easy? No. Did we succeed? Of Course!
Using the experience and expertise on the Field, Team InstaQuest not only found the distributor’s outlet located in Sadar Bazar and the manufacturing unit of the entity but also located the third party that was offering printing services to the manufacturer. This third party was found involved in printing the Client’s name on the Bindi cards along with a substantial stock of the infringing material.
We caught the wild goose at the end!