Maharashtra: Banned gutka worth Rs 56.9 lakh seized from 8 vehicles in Palghar; 3 held

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The Palghar Police in Maharashtra have seized banned gutka worth Rs 56.9 lakh from eight vehicles and arrested three persons who were allegedly transporting it illegally in the state, an official said on Thursday, the PTI reported.

Acting on a tip-off, the police on Tuesday evening intercepted seven tempos and a truck near Sasoon Navghar at Juchandra on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, Naigaon police station's senior police inspector Ramesh Bhame said, according to the PTI.

The banned product was being shifted from the truck to tempos for distribution in different locations in Mira Bhayander area and neighbouring Mumbai, he said.
The police seized banned gutka worth Rs 56,90,496 and also the eight vehicles, the official said.

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On seeing the police, those operating the vehicles and their associates escaped into a nearby forest. The police managed to nab three of them, he said.

Offences were registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 against the three arrested accused and seven other persons, who are at large, the official said.

The police were probing from where the accused procured the banned goods and to whom they were supposed to deliver them.

The sale and consumption of gutka, scented and flavoured tobacco has been banned in Maharashtra since 2012.

In 2018, the state government made sale of gutka a non-bailable offence and enhanced the punishment for it from six months to three years.

Meanwhile, in an another incident last week, the police seized mephedrone or MD drug worth Rs 10.50 lakh from a 39-year-old man in Navi Mumbai, after which he was arrested, an official told news agency PTI on Saturday.

The arrest was made after the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Navi Mumbai laid a trap at Taloja based on a tip-off, he said.

An offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against the accused, he said, adding that investigation into the case was on.

Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai police have arrested a 39-year-old Nigerian man for alleged possession of mephedrone worth Rs 10.3 lakh, an official told PTI on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police's anti-narcotics cell (ANC) laid a trap in Taloja area and intercepted the accused Onenka Clement Igboije on Thursday, the official from Taloja police station told PTI.

The ANC team recovered 103 gm of mephedrone worth Rs 10.30 lakh from the man's possession, he said.

An offence under the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered against the accused and a probe has been initiated to find out how and from whom he had sourced the contraband and about his customers, the official told PTI.

(with PTI inputs)