In a series of coordinated raids on Friday, the Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB) and Special Operation Group (SOG) have confiscated fake gutka and paan masala estimated at worth Rs 5 crore. The raids targeted godowns in the Saniya-Hemand village and Kadodara area of Surat, where the illegal material was being stored.
Based on specific information received, teams from SOG and PCB entered two warehouses and seized five trucks containing illegal tobacco products.
The operation led to the arrest of three individuals, who have been charged under sections related to causing harm through poisonous substances and the sale of harmful food items.
Providing the details, PCB police inspector RS Suvera said, ”After getting the tip-off regarding the storage of suspicious banned tobacco products in warehouses in the Saroli area, our teams conducted thorough reconnaissance of the locations multiple times to verify the information.”
The arrested individuals are identified as Sanjay Sharma, Sandip Nain and Vishal Jain, who revealed that gutka and pan masala were meant to be distributed in the markets of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
”Upon confirming the suspicious activities at one of the godowns, our team raided the ‘Kriya Shakti Logistics’ warehouse in Prince Estate, Saniya-Hemand village. We seized more than Rs 1.40 crore pouches worth Rs 4.38 crore stored in the godown and five different truck containers,” he added.
A thorough investigation helped in identifying another godown containing extra gutka stock. In a follow-up operation, another police team raided a warehouse at Prince Transport Nagar on the Saroli-Kadodara road and seized 15 lakh duplicate pouches with an estimated worth of Rs 61 lakh.
Suvera informed, ”Investigations revealed that the gutka and paan masala consignment originated from Mahavir Nain in Delhi, with Anil alias Abhishek Yadav of Surat being the intended recipient. Both people have been declared wanted, and efforts are underway to apprehend them.”
The police highlighted that the confiscated pouches did not include the mandatory skull and crossbones warning, and the required cancer warnings were either missing or incorrectly printed.
The Gujarat government has officially extended its gutka ban for another year. This is the first instance of discovering such a vast amount of illegal and banned gutka in Surat. The individuals involved have been booked under multiple sections of the BNS and The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003.
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