HYDERABAD : Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) sleuths arrested a man for selling e-cigarettes to minors in the city. The cops also seized several e-cigarettes worth Rs 8 lakh.
It must be noted that the Union government passed the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarette Act (PECA) in September 2019 to ban the manufacture, importation, transport, sale, advertising, and distribution of e-cigarettes in India.
TGANB received information about children being sold e-cigarettes by the accused, Mohammad Jafar, who used to work as a bike taxi driver with Rapido, from a student’s father. Jafar came across one Ahmed from Maharashtra, who suggested that the accused sell e-cigarettes to make money. While the price of the product is around `2,000, he would charge Rs 1,000 alone for the delivery due to the lack of availability.
A source said that Ahmed provided the contacts of the students to Jafar. The accused would then share a price list with students on WhatsApp. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the students would pool in money and order e-cigarettes from Jafar.
Since Jafar had limited interaction with Ahmed, the seller is yet to be identified. The sources added that the students involved would be identified soon and their schools would be intimated. The sources said the minors would be counselled in the presence of their parents.