Mumbai: Hookah flavours, e-cigarettes seized in raid by Bandra Police; one held

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In a major crackdown on sale of banned e-cigarettes in the city, the Bandra Police on Friday seized hookah flavours and e-cigarettes worth over Rs. 51,000 from a shop in Bandra west following a raid, the police said.

According to the police, a team led by Police Inspector Pramod Kumbhar raided a shop at Hill Road in Bandra west on February 17 night after receiving information on the sale of e-cigarettes and hookah flavours.

"The team of officials from Bandra Police immediately responded to the information on the sale of banned e-cigarettes and hookah flavours and raided the shop. The officials seized e-cigarettes worth Rs 21,000 and hookah flavours worth around Rs 30,353. The total value of the seizure amounts to Rs 50,353," an official said.

The police said, following the raid, the police have booked two people in the matter under relevant sections of the Act. A 24-year-old man was arrested in the matter and a 40-year-old suspect is wanted in the case.

The Mumbai Police, its crime branch and other units of the city police have been extensively conducting raids in the city after receiving information on sale of banned e-cigarettes in Mumbai.

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Earlier, on February 16, the officials of Unit 7 of the Mumbai Crime Branch raided two shops selling the banned e-cigarettes in Chembur and arrested three people in the matter.

The police had also seized e-cigarettes worth over Rs 1.48 lakhs and nabbed three suspects aged- 25, 21 and 36-year-old respectively.

Meanwhile, The police had on Thursday said that the Unit-10 of the Mumbai Crime Branch had raided shops in Andheri and Powai areas and seized over Rs 47,000 worth of e-cigarettes. Following the raid, two people- aged 40 and 43-year-old were arrested for the alleged sale of banned e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes have been a contentious issue in India and its metro cities since the Central government announced a ban on the products in the year 2019. But, despite the ban, these were being made available in the market, sources said.