In Hyderabad, police from the Central Zone Task Force and Afzalgunj Police raided Gowliguda and caught a man for illegally selling foreign cigarettes valued at Rs 7.05 lakh.
On Tuesday, the police arrested Manohar Singh, aged 27, at the back of the Bus Depot in Gowliguda. He was accused of importing cheap foreign cigarettes from Delhi to Hyderabad using private transport.
Manohar stored these cigarettes at his home. He sold them at higher prices to pan shops, kirana stores, and small vendors throughout the city, making illegal profits.
YVS Sudheendra, DCP Task Force, stated that Manohar bought these cigarettes without proper tax invoices and transported them using private road services.
Once the cigarettes arrived, he kept them at his residence and sold them to local shopkeepers at increased prices. These foreign cigarettes lacked the required health warnings and violated the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), avoiding taxes meant to curb tobacco use.
Under COTPA, cigarette packs must display health warnings on 85% of the packaging, but these foreign brands did not follow this rule.
The police handed over Manohar and the seized cigarettes, worth Rs 7,05,000, to Afzalgunj Police for further investigation and legal proceedings.
