Over 20 quintals of spurious tobacco products seized in Bhubaneswar, 2 arrested

The Commissionerate Police on Friday arrested two persons on the charges of selling adulterated tobacco products. Over two quintals of spurious tobacco in the name of a particular brand, whose market value is said to be around Rs 20 lakh, has been seized.

The two accused have been identified as Krushna Chandra Roul and Basudev Mandal. Both the accused were arrested following a raid at Unit-1 market area in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The accused were detained based on the complaint filed by the managing director of the original tobacco product brand.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Capital Police Station under IPC sections 419, 420, and the Copyrights Act, said ACP Manas Garnaik.

According to Garnaik, it has been found that some essence and original tobacco was added to kendu leaves to prepare the adulterated products. The accused used to cut the box of the original brand and used to add the adulterated product inside.

“The supply link of the adulterated products has been traced to Koraput. A team has moved to Koraput to conduct further investigation. The shop has been sealed,” Garnaik added.