Police seize 208 tonnes of gutka across TN in 10 months

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu police have seized more than 208 tonne of banned gutka products and registered 21,761 cases in the past ten months. Apart from police operations, the food safety and drug administration department has imposed a fine of 17.02 crore and sealed 10,155 shops selling the contraband during the same period.
In the said period, three lakh shops and storage areas were checked by joint teams of police and food safety department officials.
In August, Avadi police seized 10,000 kg of banned tobacco products and arrested three people, including the kingpin of the racket. Police investigations revealed that the majority of gutka products were smuggled from neighbouring Karnataka. Five major stocks have been busted in the last month.
In Salem, Attur town police seized 490 kg of gutka worth 4.9 lakh on Aug 10 and arrested two people. On Aug 26, police seized 273 kg of gutka at Krishnagiri toll plaza from a car. On Sept 2, police seized 362 kg of gutka from a car at Karimangalam in Dharmapuri district. Two more seizures of around 1,100 kg of gutka were made in Salem district in the first week of Sept.
Tamil Nadu police have appealed to the general public to tip them off about the sale of any banned products through the toll-free helpline number 10581 or through WhatsApp number 9498110581 or through email: [email protected].