Richard

This is specifically responding to your questions. I will try to untangle the confusion that you perceive.

1) Mr Haribabu lives in Chennai(south India) about 1000miles south of Bombay.
2) He purchased the ICs from a shop in Bombay(West India). You could think it akin to buying something from a Radio Shack or similar store. There are hundreds of retail shops like this concentrated in Grant Road, Bombay.
3) As Mr Haribabu stated, the parts RE2 'may be' screen printed spurious material which are sold in the market. A similar thing is the availability of the AT89C51 / AT89C52 devices which are obsolete(see the news items on 8052.com masthead) These are still available in our market at around 1USD ea.
4) My take on the $150 that Hari paid is that he's been ripped off. (not news to people here-the standard line is check goods before you leave the store, 'Goods once sold will not be taken back' typical tagline on every cash memo. The shopkeeper is always right!!)
5) Digikey / Mouser is fine. Even they charge much more than what we get in this grey market. So, the first choice is this grey market. The shipping cost is a damper. Typical shipping charges are $50 for a small package. So, if you order parts worth $6*5=$30, you pay 30+50+ another $50 towards customs duties.

Jerson