Coimbatore: The Chettipalayam police on Thursday seized 1,006kg of banned tobacco products from a house at Periyakuyili and arrested a 27-year-old man in connection with the case.
The arrested person was identified as M Ramesh Kumar, a native of Keshwana in Rajasthan, who was residing at Town Hall in the city.
A police team led by Sulur circle inspector Mathaiyan, sub-inspector Rajendraprasath and Chettipalayam sub-inspector Chinnakamanan had raided the house after receiving a tip-off. The team found 82 bundles of banned tobacco products weighing 1,005.6kg.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Kumar had rented the house for 2,000 two months ago and stored the contraband there. He smuggled the products from Karnataka and supplied them to shops in Chettipalayam. One packet was sold for 50.
“There are several industries that employ thousands of guest workers at Chettipalayam. Most of the workers are addicted to gutka,” a police officer said.
Superintendent of police V Badri Narayanan and deputy superintendent of police Ananda Arockiaraj appreciated the police team.
As part of Operation Ganja 2.0, police registered 101 ganja cases, arrested 127 people and seized 131kg of ganja in the last 20 days, Badri Narayanan told reporters. “In the same period, we registered 154 cases for possession of banned tobacco products and arrested 158 people. We seized two tonnes of gutka. We want to save youths and guest workers from ganja and gutka addiction. To this end, we plan to attach the properties of ganja peddlers and gutka sellers,” he added.