Maharashtra: Two arrested for transporting banned tobacco products

The Palghar Police in Maharashtra have arrested two persons for allegedly transporting banned tobacco products valued at over Rs 2 lakh an official said on Friday reported the PTIAccording to the PTI the suspects identified as Sunil Jagaram Godhara and Suresh Bhuraram Chowdhari were caught on the MumbaiAhmedabad highway during patrolling on Tuesday night he saidThe two were travelling in a car that was loaded with banned tobacco products valued at Rs 217 lakh he saidA case has been registered against them at the Talsari police station under the Indian Penal Code for causing hurt by means of poison and adulteration of food or drink intended for sale and the Food Safety and Standards Act he added as per the PTIMeanwhile the police in Maharashtras Thane district have seized banned gutka and tobacco products valued at about Rs 8 lakh an official said on Friday the PTI reportedActing on a tipoff the Shanti Nagar police in Bhiwandi area raided a paan stall on Wednesday and found it to be storing and selling gutka and tobacco products that are prohibited in the state over public health concernsThe seized items are valued at Rs 777 lakh he said adding that an FIR has been registered against Farman Ahmad Manzoor Ansari 24 who was operating the stall and three more individuals the news agency reported on FridayIn an another incidentthe police raided a factory in Maharashtras Thane district where spurious butter was manufactured and sold in the name of a popular brand and arrested its owner and another person an official said on Thursday the PTI reported on ThursdayBased on a tipoff a crime branch team conducted the raid on Tuesday at the premises located near an underconstruction building in Khoni village of Dombivli area senior police inspector Naresh Pawar said the news agency reportedAs per preliminary investigation the factory owner used to mix vanaspati refined palmolein oil salt food colour and other ingredients to prepare blocks of spurious butter which were then stored in a deep freezer wrapped in butter paper bearing the name of a popular brand and sold in the market he saidThe spurious butter was supplied to hotels street vendors selling sandwiches and dhabas roadside eateries after being falsely labelled as a genuine product he saidDuring the raid the police seized machinery accessories used in the manufacturing process raw materials and cartons of the popular brand collectively valued at Rs 293255 the official saidThe crime branch arrested the unit owner and another person involved in the offence from a village near DombivliAn FIR was registered against them under Indian Penal Code sections 420 cheating 272 adulteration of food or drink intended for sale 273 sale of noxious food or drink and 34 common intention and provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 the police saidwith PTI inputs