Mumbai Crime: Businessman nabbed in foreign cigarette smuggling case

The container carrying the cigarettes had an import-export code from the Director General of Foreign Trade. Representation Pic

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday arrested entrepreneur Harpreet Singh Talwar aka Kabir, a very prominent name in the clubbing business, in a case of smuggling foreign cigarettes worth Rs 3.24 crore. He was arrested from the Mumbai airport in the matter which was detected in January this year.

Confirming the development, a DRI officer told mid-day. "He was arrested on Thursday in a cigarette smuggling case and has been remanded in judicial custody." In January the DRI had seized foreign brand cigarettes worth R3.24 crore from a container at the Nhava Sheva Port in Navi Mumbai. The cigarettes were concealed in women's footwear.

According to the officers, around 18 lakh Gundang Garam cigarette sticks were smuggled into India through an import container from Dubai. The container had an import-export code from the Director General of Foreign Trade. Initially, the officers found women's footwear in the consignment but while examining the same they recovered the cigarettes.

"During the investigation we found Kabir's links to this case. He was arrested by the customs department of the Mumbai airport on his arrival from Delhi," the officer added.

Rs 3.24 cr
Worth of seized cigarettes