Gutka, banned tobacco products worth Rs 9.96 lakh smuggled in consignments marked as clothes in Thane district

Gutka and banned tobacco products worth Rs 9.96 lakh were smuggled in consignments marked as clothes in Maharashtras Thane district, police said on Friday.The matter came to light when an alert godown owner in Bhiwandi received a suspicious consignment from a transporter and he alerted the local police, assistant police inspector Somnath Karnavar-Patil of the Narpoli police station said.

Gutka and banned tobacco products worth Rs 9.96 lakh were smuggled in consignments marked as clothes in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.

The matter came to light when an alert godown owner in Bhiwandi received a suspicious consignment from a transporter and he alerted the local police, assistant police inspector Somnath Karnavar-Patil of the Narpoli police station said. On inspection, the police recovered banned gutka and tobacco products worth Rs 9.96 lakh from boxes marked as clothes. The goods had arrived between October 29 and November 1, he said. The alleged accused packed the banned goods in cartons marked as clothes and showed the consignment as clothing in the tax invoice as well, the official said, adding that the consignment arrived from Surat in neighbouring Gujarat. An offence has been registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Food Security and Standards Act, FDA regulations, Food Safety & Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations and Food Safety & Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations Act, he said.