The central unit of the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested a hotelier for allegedly selling gutkha, which is banned by the State government. The accused, Keraram Ruparam Chaudhary (33), ran a hotel, Ishita, in Rabale MIDC, and also had a grocery shop adjacent to the hotel in the same compound.

“He served tea and snacks in the hotel which he used to open early in the morning. People who knew that he had gutkha would buy from him as well. Depending on the customer, he would sell at double the rate,” senior police inspector Nivrutti Kolhatkar from the central unit said.

A police team led by Mr. Kolhatkar raided the godown attached to the hotel and found gutkha packets with the name, Vimal, on them, worth ₹7.15 lakh. “The chances are that whoever produced the gutkha has misused the name of Vimal. The accused said that he got them from Gujarat,” Mr. Kolhatkar said.

Mr. Chaudhary was arrested under sections of the Indian Penal Code, and under the Epidemic Diseases Act as well for selling the banned item during the pandemic.