T'puram: Kottarakkara sub-division Dansaf team arrested two men on Tuesday with 16,000 packets of banned tobacco products worth Rs 15 lakh during a raid conducted at the godown of one of the accused at Karinthilakode in the early hours of Tuesday.
The arrested men are the key suppliers of the products in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts. They buy the items from Bengaluru in sacks at a cheaper rate and sell them for double or triple the amount.
Those arrested were identified as Shibu, 45, of Nilamel, and Jobin Joy, 33, of Thenmala. A case was registered against them under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act and they were freed later after recording their arrests as the charges were bailable.
Kollam rural police chief Sabu Mathew K M received information about the drug business, and the accused were kept under observation for the last couple of days. Four days ago, Shibu went to Bengaluru to buy the items, and they were stored at the godown near Karinthilakadu junction. The duo was arrested near the junction while Shibu was selling sacks to Jobin. Soon, a raid was conducted and the products were seized. TNN