The Pollachi West police arrested six persons who attempted to smuggle 373 kg of prohibited tobacco products into Coimbatore district from Kerala. The arrested were R. Pramod (38), M. Manoj Mathew (45) from Mannarkkad in Palakkad district of Kerala, M. Kaja Moideen (44), S. Kumaresan (47) from Karumbukkadai in Coimbatore, S. Mathiyazhagan (34) from Pollachi and K. Manikandan (47) from Kinathukadavu near Coimbatore.. According to the police, Pramod and Mathew had been into the wholesale business of tobacco products. While Moideen and Kumaresan were involved in local supplies of the contraband, Manikandan ran a grocery store. Based on specific information, the police conducted a vehicle check on Pollachi – Palakkad road on Saturday. They stopped two cars travelled by Pramod, Mathew, Moideen and Kumaresan and found that they were smuggling 293 kg of tobacco products. The cars, tobacco products and ₹1.10 lakh were seized from them. When questioned, they told the police that 80 kg of tobacco products were given to Manikandan’s grocery store through Mathiyazhagan, a daily wage labourer. They were arrested and 80 kg of tobacco products were seized from them. The six persons were produced before a judicial magistrate and were remanded in Pollachi sub-jail in judicial custody late on Saturday.
