Mumbai Police nab man after chase, e-cigarettes worth Rs 66 lakh seized

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Mumbai Police on Sunday said that it nabbed a man after a brief chase with a huge consignment of e-cigarettes valued at around Rs 66 lakh. The seizure is one of the biggest in recent times, sources said.

According to the police, the property cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch nabbed the suspect, a 33-year-old man and seized his SUV while he was allegedly attempting to flee away.

The police said, on March 4 night the police officials were conducting checks in the Masjid area of south Mumbai when they spotted a suspicious SUV driven by a man. On suspicions, the officials asked him to stop the car for checking but instead of halting the vehicle, the suspect allegedly attempted to run away.

"The officials began to chase his car and after a brief while the car was stopped. When the officials checked the vehicle, they found multiple boxes in the car. On opening the boxes, they found huge quantities of banned e-cigarettes," an official said.

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The suspect was immediately detained and questioned about the consignment. He was taken to Dongri Police station where an FIR under relevant sections of the Prohibition of e-cigarettes Act was registered against him. The suspect was handed over to the Dongri Police for further legal action, the police said.

The Mumbai Police have launched a major crackdown on the sale of banned e-cigarettes in the city. The city police, its crime branch and other units have been conducting raids in Mumbai in connection with the sale of e-cigarettes.

According to the police, last month, they conducted multiple raids in the city and seized huge quantities of banned e-cigarettes. The police had also arrested several people following the raids.

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

In another operation, the Unit 10 of the Mumbai Crime Branch raided shops in the Andheri and Powai areas of Mumbai last month 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 sale of banned e-cigarettes.

Previously, the Anti-Narcotics Cell had also carried out six major operations and arrested 10 people, including the owner of Mumbai's iconic Muchhad Panwala, Shivkumar Tiwari, for allegedly selling e-cigarettes.