Madurai: A special police team seized banned tobacco products worth Rs 70 lakh and arrested four people in this connection from Madurai on Tuesday. The total estimated weight of the contrabands is more than four tonnes.
The arrested are Ravindran, of K Pudur, his worker Muthupandi, Vairavasamy, from HMS colony and Ashok Kumar Jain from Mela Masi Street. Police said the banned products were found piled up in 306 bags in a godown in Sundararajanpatti, in the Appan Thirupathi police limit.
On receiving tip-off, police carried out a raid on a godown and nabbed Ravindran and Muthupandi. Further investigation into the incident led to the arrests of Vairavasamy and Ashok Kumar. Police, who speculate that there could be a network in operation, have registered a case and begun an investigation.
Three four-wheelers used for products distribution and an amount of Rs 2.40 lakh were confiscated. Police said they have raided two more spots and seized banned tobacco products from there following an intelligence input.
The products were shifted to Appan Thirupathi police station on three trucks. A police officer said that the contrabands were found to have been procured from Bangalore and were distributed across southern Tamil Nadu.
With both police and food safety officials toughening action against sale of banned tobacco, the prices of the tobacco products have doubled and even tripled in retail sector. It was only recently that the city police have seized banned tobacco products from a godown in Sellur. Around 1450 kgs of contrabands were seized by the police team led by Sellur station inspector then.
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