Banned tobacco products worth Rs 26.28 lakh seized in Thane; one held

Representation image. File pic

Banned tobacco products worth Rs 26.28 lakh have been seized by police in Thane city. One tempo driver is arrested in the case, the police said.

A team from the crime branch intercepted the tempo at the entry point to the city on Thursday afternoon and found the contraband concealed in the vehicle. The tempo driver, Ramkrit Lattu Yadav (40) was placed under arrest, PTI reported quoting an official.

A first information report (FIR) under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and FDA regulations has been registered against the driver.

Meanwhile, Mumbai police recently said that it had recovered Rs 3.46 crore cash from a house in Bhiwandi, Thane district. The cash was allegedly kept by the main accused in a mephedrone drugs bust case in Sangli district of Maharashtra.

A mephedrone manufacturing unit was busted in Sangli on last Monday and contraband worth Rs 252 crore was seized, leading to the arrest of 10 persons.

As per PTI report, "During questioning, main accused Pravin Shinde (34) said he had hidden Rs 3.46 crore cash in a painter's house in Bhiwandi. A Crime Branch team recovered several bags full of currency," an official said.

"The painter has told us he kept the bag on the instructions of Pravin Shinde, who had engaged him to paint his house in Thane's Kasarvadavali area. The money is proceeds from mephedrone deals," he added.

Earlier, the Mumbai Police had unearthed a drug manufacturing unit in Maharashtra's Sangli district and seized more than 100 kg of mephedrone. Based on specific inputs, crime branch sleuths conducted a raid and discovered the drug manufacturing unit at Irali village, the official said, reported PTI.

The unit was situated in a farm, from where the police seized more than 100 kg of mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant drug, the official said. Police also recovered raw materials used in manufacturing drugs.

(With PTI inputs)