354 kg of gutka seized from godown in Coimbatore, 5 arrested from Rajasthan

Coimbatore: The Coimbatore district police are taking various measures to curb the sale of gutka and ganja across the district. In particular, it was announced that strict action would be taken against those found selling gutka tobacco products in violation of the government's prohibitory orders.

As a part of this, a special team has been formed to identify those who are hoarding gutkha items in bulk in godowns and sending them for retail sale.

In this case, the Special Cell police received a tip-off that some people from the northern state were hoarding and selling gutka tobacco products in Karumathampatti police station limits in Coimbatore. Following this, a police team led by Inspector Rajadhurai and Sub-Inspector Udayachandran conducted a raid at Vakarayampalayam.

However, as the sale of gutkha continued in the district, the district SP Badrinarayanan issued a warning that the shop would be closed and sealed if caught for the first time, Rs 5,000 for the first time, Rs 10,000 for the second time and if caught for the third time.

During an inspection of a godown, it was found that gutkha tobacco products banned by the Tamil Nadu government were stored in bundles.

The accused have been identified as Prakash Kumar (40), Ranjit Kumar (26), Sogaram (22), Madhavaram (30), and Deeparam (27), all residents of Rajasthan, who had illegally stored gutka items in the godown and sent it illegally for retail sale.

Following this, the police arrested the five and seized around 354 kg of gutkha items from their possession.