Navi Mumbai: Banned tobacco items worth Rs 8.93 lakh seized

Thane, Aug 24: The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) has seized banned gutka and tobacco products worth Rs 8.93 lakh from a shop in Navi Mumbai, police said on Wednesday.

Based on a tip-off, the Navi Mumbai police's ANC on Monday raided the shop located in Taloja area and seized the banned items, the police said in an official release. The police also seized Rs 1.26 lakh in cash, it said.

Two persons - Mohmmad Hamza Mohammad Saheen Khan (26) and Arfan Siraz Ahmed Shaikh (22) - were arrested from the shop. A case was registered against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the release said.

The police were trying to find out from where the accused got these goods and to whom they planned to sell them. The sale and consumption of gutka, scented and flavoured tobacco has been banned in Maharashtra since 2012. In 2018, the state government made sale of gutka a non-bailable offence and enhanced the punishment for it from six months to three years.