COIMBATORE: Two individuals including a woman were held for allegedly engaging in contraband sale in two incidents here on Thursday. Around 370 kg of banned tobacco products worth Rs 3.5 lakh were also seized.
The culprits were identified as V Murugan (43), a resident of Madukkarai, and R Nandhini (33), of Chettipalayam.
Police said that in the first incident, based on a tip-off, police officials from Madukkarai station held a search at Murugan’s grocery and tea shop at Ganesh Nagar in Bodipalayam village on Thursday night and seized around 215 kg of contraband and detained him.
In the second incident, Chettipalayam police arrested Nandhini who runs a petty shop on Pollachi-Coimbatore Road as she had around 155 kg of banned tobacco products in a hideout next to her petty shop for selling.
The duo were booked under the provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (COTPA) Act and remanded to prison on Friday.
Police sources added K Karthikeyan, Superintendent of Police, had instructed the formation of special teams at all police station limits to check the illegal sale of contraband.
Each station should have two teams headed by sub-inspectors and they would be monitored by the station inspectors the teams that work on the grounds would gather information on contraband sales near educational institutions, drug abuse activities, and contraband smuggling on routes connecting inter-states.
Once this team confirms the sale, the police team from the stations will conduct an inspection and initiate the arrest process. Meanwhile, the police recommend the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) initiate their departmental actions like cancelling the trade license and imposing hefty fines, against the shops involved in such cases. We have almost established sources to gather information up to the state border and interior villages.
We hope to curb drug and contraband usage through our continuous process.