Thane: Nine arrested for stealing cigarettes worth Rs 50 lakh

The accused have been identified as Alok Agrawal, Akheel Khan, Mohammad Ismail Saha, Shivdhari Yadav, Ramashankar Sharma, Pravinkumar Singh, Bilal Ahmed, Mohammad Jalaluddin Khan and the driver of the container, Vijay Yadav. (Representational Image)

WITH THE arrest of nine persons, the Thane police claimed to have busted an alleged gang of international cigarette smugglers while seizing 550 cartons of imported cigarettes worth over Rs 50 lakh from them.  The cigarettes were stolen from a container bearing goods from ITC company’s storage at Ranjangaon MIDC to the Navha Sheva port, the police said. The Thane property cell of the crime branch made the arrests from two locations within a span of 10 days. “Based on a tip-off, we trapped four accused on April 8 at Uttarshiv Naka on the Mumbra-Panvel road. They had 186 cartons of the imported cigarettes on them,” said an officer.

The four allegedly confessed to have stolen from a container near Ranjangaon MIDC.  “We had a case lodged at the Shil Daighar police station regarding theft of 550 cartons of imported cigarettes belonging to ITC. While the container was not broken into, it reached the port empty,” said an officer. “Upon inspection, we realised that the theft was committed by breaking in through the container’s floor by removing the rivets or screws,” he added.

“After interrogation, we reached the other five accused, including the container’s driver, who were hiding in Bhiwandi with 364 cartons of cigarettes,” the officer added. The accused have been identified as Alok Agrawal, Akheel Khan, Mohammad Ismail Saha, Shivdhari Yadav, Ramashankar Sharma, Pravinkumar Singh, Bilal Ahmed, Mohammad Jalaluddin Khan and the driver of the container, Vijay Yadav.