Bhiwandi: The Thane Rural Police’s Local Crime Branch (LCB) seized a truck carrying banned gutka and flavoured tobacco worth ₹81.51 lakh near Yewai Naka on the Mumbai–Nashik Highway on Friday. With the value of the seized truck included, the total worth of the confiscated property has been estimated at around ₹1 crore. The driver, however, fled the spot after abandoning the vehicle when the police began questioning him.
Tip-Off Leads To Operation
According to the police, LCB Senior Police Inspector Dadasaheb Adke received information that a large consignment of gutka was being transported from Indore in Madhya Pradesh towards Mumbai. Acting on the tip-off, a team led by Police Sub-Inspector Shivraj Janjurne began surveillance in the Yewai Naka area from Friday afternoon.
At around noon, the team spotted a suspicious truck and intercepted it. As police personnel began questioning the driver, he allegedly abandoned the vehicle and fled from the spot. The police subsequently searched the truck and found a large quantity of banned gutka and flavoured tobacco concealed inside.
27,540 Gutka Packets Recovered
The seized consignment included 27,540 packets of Rajnivas gutka valued at ₹55.08 lakh, along with Z-One flavoured tobacco worth ₹26.43 lakh, taking the total value of the tobacco products to ₹81.51 lakh.
Following the seizure, officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were called to the spot. Under the guidance of Assistant Commissioner Yogesh Dhane, Food Safety Officers Kasturi Chiplunkar and Arvind Kandelkar conducted the required panchnama and completed the formalities related to the seized material.
Police Hunt For Driver
The LCB has seized the truck along with the contraband. Including the estimated value of the vehicle, the total value of the seized property has been put at around ₹1 crore. Police are now searching for the absconding driver and investigating the source and intended destination of the consignment.
The latest seizure has once again put the spotlight on the alleged movement of banned gutka and flavoured tobacco through Bhiwandi and its adjoining areas. Known nationally as a major warehousing and logistics hub, the region has increasingly figured in cases involving the interception of large consignments of prohibited tobacco products.
Investigators are now trying to establish where the consignment was ultimately headed, who was supposed to receive it and whether other persons were involved in its transportation and storage. The police are also examining the supply chain from its source in Indore to its intended destination in the Mumbai region.
The repeated seizure of sizeable gutka consignments has also raised questions about the wider network operating behind the transportation and storage of banned tobacco products in the region. The LCB is now focusing on identifying the persons linked to the consignment rather than limiting the investigation to the driver who fled the scene
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