CHENNAI: As part of its drive against Banned Tobacco Products (BTP) like gutka and ‘Cool Lip’ (a chewable form of tobacco), Tamil Nadu police have seized 1,008.87 tonnes of contraband from across the state since 2022, according to official data from the department.
A total of 80,272 cases have been booked across the state from January 2022 till May 2024, as per data. Since November 2023, TN police have initiated a special drive to curtail the sale of BTP in the vicinity of educational institutions, said DGP Shankar Jiwal, head of the TN police force.
The special drive has resulted in the seizure of 56,569kg of BTP which includes 4,126kg of ‘Cool Lip’. Around 6,221 shops found to be selling these banned products were sealed and a total fine of `7.36 crore has been collected, official data revealed.
As many as 391 joint teams from the police and food safety departments have been formed throughout the state to take action against violators, Jiwal said. “As per the firm resolve of the government, the action against banned tobacco products such as gutka has been intensified for the past 3 years, leading to an effective enforcement of the ban.
Apart from statistics, the subjective assessment regarding availability of gutka products in Tamil Nadu clearly indicates a downtrend. The efforts in this regard will continue,” Jiwal told TNIE.