Police on Wednesday arrested owners of Durbar Marg-based branded apparel stores who stand accused of overcharging customers and failing to report before the police.

SSP Rabindra Dhanuk informed police arrested Rajeshwor Shrestha, Subash Maharjan, Jitendra Maharjan, Shree Krishna Maharjan, Roshan Odari, Raunak Sharma, Uttam Kumar Basnet, Prabin Jha and Tulsidhar Bhandari on Tuesday. Police have filed cases under Black Marketing Act filed against them. Dhanuk said they have been kept at Metropolitan Police Range.

The owners have been accused of charging exorbitant prices in international products like Nike, Reebok, Puma, Bentley and Levis, among others.

On September 4, Supplies Minister Shiva Prasad Mandal led a market monitoring team and raided nine stores at Durbar Marg to check for possible misconduct.

The squad sealed the nine stores on the swanky shopping street on the charge of putting excessive markups. Officials found they were charging prices that were 2,300 percent higher than the cost price of the goods.

Two days later, officials from the Department of Supplies Management (DoSM) sealed two other clothing stores at New Road on a similar charge.

Following the government action, the retailers in Durbar Marg had closed their businesses only to open after four days.