Thane: Gutkha worth Rs 7 lakh seized from residential premises, 6 persons booked

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Gutkha and other tobacco products worth Rs 7 lakh was seized from a residential premises in Vithalwadi in Thane district, a police official said on Friday, reported news agency PTI.

Gutkha is banned in Maharashtra.

Acting on a tip off, a raid was carried out on Thursday, the Kolsewadi police station official said, reported PTI.

Six persons have been booked under Indian Penal Code and Food and Drug Administration rules but are yet to be arrested, he added, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, six persons of a gang allegedly involved in selling stolen cars nationwide were arrested by the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) police of Maharashtra, a senior official said on Friday, reported PTI.

Cars worth Rs 2.42 crore stolen from eight places in Delhi have been seized, he added, reported PTI.

The probe into the racket began after a Mumbai-based businessman registered a case on December 6 of cheating in a car deal, Central Crime Unit senior inspector Rahul Rakh said, reported PTI.

"Our probe found that several cars had been stolen from various parts of Delhi and were being sold fraudulently. We managed to track down the original owners after retrieving car registration, chassis number through Google Tracking System and vehicle verification number etc," he said, reported PTI.

"We found that the accused used to buy these cars knowing they were stolen, then change details and sell them in various states. We seized eight cars cumulatively worth Rs 2.42 crore," he said, reported PTI.

He identified the accused as Milanrajsingh alias Bapu Sureshkumar Chouhan from Gujarat, Tarifhussain Iqbal Khan from Jaipur in Rajasthan, Irshad Akbahbhai Ajmeri from Ahmedabad, Wasim Altaf Pathan from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh and Shahid Ayub Khan, also from Ujjain, as well as number plate maker Nabijan alias Allabaksh Shoukatali Ansari, reported PTI.

Further probe into the racket is underway, the official added, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, three unidentified women have been booked for stealing gold jewellery worth Rs 10.79 lakh from a shop in Dombivali in Thane district, a police official said on Friday, reported PTI.

They had stolen the jewellery at around 2:45pm on Thursday, he said, reported PTI.

"They walked into the shop and in the pretext of making a purchase replaced some jewellery with imitation items. After the shop owner realised it later, he approached police," the official said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)