Hyderabad: Police in Hyderabad have arrested two men for selling banned e-cigarettes and vapes to school and college students in the Abids area. The Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) and Hyderabad city police carried out the investigation after receiving complaints from school staff. They seized 1,217 e-cigarettes worth ₹25 lakh and identified 13 minors who were using them.
The authorities had been conducting drug awareness campaigns at educational institutions in Abids, including Little Flower School, St Mary’s Junior College, St George Grammar School, Rosary Convent High School, and Sujatha High School and Junior College. During these campaigns, teachers raised concerns about students using e-cigarettes and vapes.
Following this, TGANB started monitoring the area and discovered that two brothers, Sadiq Lalani and Anil Lalani from Nampally, were selling the illegal products. They were not only selling to youth but also to school students under the age of 18.
The brothers created a WhatsApp group named ‘SID’ with around 500 members to promote and sell their products. They advertised new stock in the group and delivered items using services like Rapido, Uber, and DTDC.
Police found that the brothers were buying the banned items from suppliers named Amit in New Delhi and Waseem in Mumbai. For transactions over ₹50,000, they used hawala operators to transfer money illegally.
As part of the investigation, police identified 13 students involved and collected their phone numbers. Local police will visit their homes to counsel the parents. In addition, over 400 users were tracked through UPI payments, bank transactions, and delivery records from Rapido, Uber, and DTDC.
Police also registered a case against DTDC Courier, Uber, and Rapido for failing to check the contents of the parcels they were delivering. Authorities seized seven boxes containing the e-cigarettes, ₹18,440 in cash, $225 USD, and $100 Canadian Dollars from Sadiq Lalani.
TGANB is urging students, parents, and citizens to help fight drug abuse and report any use or sale of e-cigarettes and vapes. People can contact the Bureau through the toll-free number 1908 or email tsnabho-hyd@tspolice.gov.in.
