Bhayandar: In a prize catch for the Thane (rural) police, a huge consignment of gutkha worth more than Rs 99 lakh was seized from parked delivery jeeps in Kashimira during the wee hours on Tuesday.
However, no arrests have been made so far. Based on a specific tip-off, a team led by ASP Atul Kulkarni checked the five jeeps that were parked on the service road in Pleasant Park.
All the jeeps were found to be carrying a total of 368 gunny bags stashed with sachets of banned tobacco laced products. The Food and Drug Authorities (FDA) which was alerted about the seizure, reached the spot and found 24,757 sachets, the market value of which has been pegged at Rs. 99.66 lakh. However, no arrests had been made till reports last came in.
“Investigations were underway to ascertain the origin and destination of the consignment. The culprits involved in the smuggling rackets will be behind the bars soon,” said ASP Atul Kulkarni. While a case under the relevant sections of the IPC and regulations of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations has been registered at the Kashimira police station against unidentified racketeers, the police was trying to source out ownership details of the delivery jeeps. It may be recalled that the Thane (rural) police had seized a consignment of gutkha worth Rs 50 lakh from a tenement in Vinay Nagar, Kashimira in June, 2016. Although, the authorities have been seizing gutkha and scented tobacco products worth lakhs of rupees in frequently conducted raids, the racket involved in smuggling of banned products into Mumbai and Thane from neighboring states like Gujarat continues unabated.