Rajendranagar police Special Operation Team (SOT) on Wednesday nabbed a gang transporting banned cigarettes from Bihar to Hyderabad during a regular vehicle-check exercise.
Syed Iliasuddin, 36, Ravikant Kumar, 37, Mohd Shahjad, 36 and Mubarik Khan,18 were arrested by the police for transporting 395 cottons of banned Paris and Gold Vimal cigarettes and 120 bags (each bag of 25 kilograms) of Gold Step detergent powder worth ₹2.15 crore. The vehicle along with the contents were seized by the police.
According to the officials, the vehicle started from Patna four days ago and 400 quintals of illegal material was being smuggled in the name of Gold Step Detergent Powder, which was only 31 quintals packed in 125 plastic bags, 25 kg per bag.
The cigarettes were sourced from Good Luck Commercial Company based in Gaya, Bihar, and were to be delivered to Srirama Enterprises in Musheerabad.
The shipper was monitoring the movement of the container through the GPS fitted to the container.
Rehan Khan, a resident of Kishan Bagh, Hyderabad, was the receiver, and the main supplier, Subhash, a resident of Gaya, Bihar was allegedly transporting these illegally banned cigarettes all over Telangana.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Police is currently investigating the case. Efforts are underway to trace and nab Rehan and Subhash.
