Navi Mumbai: One held with banned Gutkha worth Rs 1.71 lakh from Roadpali

Navi Mumbai: Kalamboli police arrested a 24-year-old man from Roadpali in Navi Mumbai and seized Gutkha and flavoured Paan Masala worth Rs 1.71 lakh.

The arrested man had stored Gutkha in plastic bags in his house. Police said he was supplying Gutkha and other banned flavoured paan masala to retailers.

Second seizure of banned Gutkha in Navi Mumbai

Acting on a tip-off received from a reliable source, the Kalamboli police carried out a raid early this week at the house of the accused located at sector 15 in Roadpali in Kalamboli. During the raid, the police found that banned Gutkha and other flavoured Paan Masala of different varieties was kept in plastic bags.

“We took samples of all varieties of Gutkha and Paan Masala and sealed the place,” said an official from Kalamboli police station. He added that the total seizure of banned gutkha was worth Rs 1,71,488. The owner who also runs a shop was arrested and he was identified as Chitranjan Mritunjaya Barik, a resident of room number 8, Kalu Balu Nagar in sector 15 in Roadpali and a native of Baleshwar in Oddisa. He was booked under sections 188, 272, 273, and 328 of IPC and sections 27 (2) (e) and 30 (2) (a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.

This was the second seizure of banned Gutkha in Navi Mumbai in one week. The Anti-Narcotic Cell of Navi Mumbai police arrested a 32-year-old tempo driver and seized Gutkha worth Rs 10 lakh at Dhansar Toll Plaza on the Mumbra-Panvel highway last week. The Gutkhawas brought from Gujarat and other states for the retailer in the city. In order to make Navi Mumbai free from Gutkha, police commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh has zero tolerance. This year, the Navi Mumbai police have already seized Gutkha worth Rs 1 crores.