Smuggled foreign cigarettes seized in Manipur during lockdown, one held

The Manipur Police on Saturday seized over 45,500 packets of smuggled foreign cigarettes from Kakching district during the ongoing lockdown and arrested a person in this connection. Acting on a tip-off, a team of police personnel intercepted a vehicle at Pallel checkpost and seized the cigarettes, smuggled from Myanmar, a senior officer said.

The consignment was handed over to the customs department, and necessary action will be taken against the person for defying the lockdown order, he said. In view of the spread of novel coronavirus, the state government had banned the import of packaged food items from China, Myanmar and Southeast Asian countries which do not comply with the norms of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

The state police had on Thursday seized over 800 packets of cigarettes, made in Myanmar, from Thoubal district in two separate operations, and arrested two persons including a woman..