The Prakasam police on Thursday arrested eight persons for making gutkha illegally and distributing it in different parts of the State.

The arrest followed special teams formed by Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal in the wake of the seizure of banned gutkha and chemicals worth ₹3 crore from a tobacco godown at Medarametla in Prakasam district.

Main accused

Presenting the accused before the media in Addanki town, Darsi Deputy Superintendent of Police K. Prakasa Rao said the main accused, B.Venkataprasad (35) and B. Venkat Pandu procured raw material from the places like Uttar Pradesh and Hyderabad and started producing gutkha after incurring losses in their business in 2014.

They purchased mixing and packaging machine from Guntur and produced the banned product from a tobacco factory in Medarmetla. They had sold gutkha and earned ₹10 crore since then. The others arrested were N. Shankar (59), S. Subramanyam (50), K. Siva (33), N. Rajasekar (32), P. Rajalingam (43) and M.V. Sunil (30). They were involved in manufacture and sale of the banned product produced in the name of two firms in Delhi and Bengaluru, the DSP said.

Pat for team

The SP appreciated Mr. Prakasa Rao and his team for unearthing the racket and seizing tobacco powder, gutkha packets, ammonium chloride, lime powder and machinery used for making the banned product.