24 August,2023 08:47 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
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Clove sticks worth Rs 2.24 crore were seized from a cold storage facility in Turbhe in Navi Mumbai, a Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) official said on Thursda, the PTI reported.
FDA (Konkan) Joint Commissioner Suresh Deshmukh told reporters the 160 tonnes of clove sticks, which were seized on Wednesday, were stored for the purpose of adulteration, as per the PTI.
"The company that owns the stock has violated FDA regulations. Action will be taken after we get reports of sample tests," he said, according to the PTI.
The FDA official said cold storage facilities in and around Thane are being checking continuously as several of them operate in unhygienic conditions.
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Meanwhile, in an another incident, the Palghar Police in Maharashtra have seized banned gutka worth Rs 56.9 lakh from eight vehicles and arrested three persons who were allegedly transporting it illegally in the state, an official said on Thursday, the PTI reported.
Acting on a tip-off, the police on Tuesday evening intercepted seven tempos and a truck near Sasoon Navghar at Juchandra on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, Naigaon police station's senior police inspector Ramesh Bhame said, according to the PTI.
The banned product was being shifted from the truck to tempos for distribution in different locations in Mira Bhayander area and neighbouring Mumbai, he said.
The police seized banned gutka worth Rs 56,90,496 and also the eight vehicles, the official said.
On seeing the police, those operating the vehicles and their associates escaped into a nearby forest. The police managed to nab three of them, he said.
Offences were registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 against the three arrested accused and seven other persons, who are at large, the official said.
The police were probing from where the accused procured the banned goods and to whom they were supposed to deliver them.
The sale and consumption of gutka, scented and flavoured tobacco has been banned in Maharashtra since 2012.
In 2018, the state government made sale of gutka a non-bailable offence and enhanced the punishment for it from six months to three years.
(with PTI inputs)
