A four-member gang was arrested in Chintadripet for making `mawa' (a form of chewing tobacco) laced with ganja and supplying it to school and college students on Monday .
The four men -Tiwari, 40, Sunil, 28, of Choolai, Parasuraman, 48, and Rohith, 20 of Mylapore -had rented a house in Nainiyappan street, Chintadripet, for the past six months, said police.
On a tip that the house was being frequented by school and college students, on the orders of commissioner S George, a special police team headed by deputy commissioner S Jayakumar raided the house.
They seized 25kg of mawa, 5kg of jardha (a kind of tobacco), 10kg of slaked lime, 600 packets of mawa and the grinder used to prepare the items worth about ` `4 lakh.
Police said the men brought the ingredients with them in trains from Assam and Bihar every month.
To escape police, they would travel in unreserved compartments and hop off the train before it reached Chennai Central railway station.
They made mawa by mix ing jardha, slaked lime, ganja and jaggery made from palm wine and chebula fruit.
They were supplying it to school and college students for `20 a packet.
Doctors say chewing tobacco increases risk of cancer of the mouth, liver, cervix, stomach, prostate and lung. Other side effects include rapid heartbeat, low blood pressure and worsening of asthma.
“Their customers were mainly students and construction workers who buy in bulk and supply it to their co-workers. Their business grew mostly through word of mouth,“ said an investigating officer.
Police arrested them for selling banned substances and remanded them in judicial custody .
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