The Central Unit of the Crime Branch arrested a 39-year-old man from Karawe village in Seawoods on Friday evening and seized banned gutkha, tobacco products, and a motorbike worth Rs 4.43 lakh. The accused was a wholesaler of Gutkha and was involved in the illegal trade for a long time.
Acting on a tip-off received from a reliable source, the crime branch team carried out a raid at his house at sector 36 in Karave village on Friday afternoon and found sacks filled with banned gutkha. Police said that the accused was at home and used to deliver gutkha and other tobacco products in his motorbike to paan shops.
The arrested accused identified as Mohammed Faiz Nizamuddin Mohammed Saiyad, a resident of Karave village and native of Uttar Pradesh.
“We have received information about him that he was distributing the banned gutkha at Paan Shops and during the search at his home, we found varieties of banned gutkha and other flavored tobacco products packed in sacks,” said a senior official from the Crime Branch.
According to an official, the worth total seizure banned gutkha was around Rs 3.5 lakh. “We also seized cash Rs 47, 535 which was the collection from sales of banned gutkha and motorbike worth Rs 40,000 used to distribute the product,” said the official. A case has been registered against him at the NRI police station under sections 188, 272, 273, and 328 of IPC.
