Police on Monday summoned two persons involved in manufacturing and smuggling banned gutkha products. The accused were accused of exporting gutkha to several places in AP and neighbouring States.
Police booked cases against Bolisetty Kameswara Rao of Guntur district and Puvvada Chandrashekar alias Gutka Shekar of Bellari in Anthapur district. The accused surrendered in a local court and were granted bail. Police summoned the accused for questioning in a police station on Monday. The West Zone and the Central Zone police had recently conducted raids on the warehouses at Nunna, Bhavanipuram and Ajitsingh Nagar police stations’ limits in the city and seized huge quantity of gutkha products.
Investigation revealed Kameshwara Rao and Chandrashekar were the kingpins in the rackets. The consignments were booked from Delhi, Mumbai and other places to various districts in AP.
“Police raided the warehouses and the abandoned vehicles at Bhavanipuram a few months ago. Smugglers were transporting the gutkha products in lorries and containers on the pretext of shifting some other goods,” a senior police officer, who is investigating the case, said.
Even after ban was imposed on manufacture and sale of gutkha, the accused were continuing their business, the police said.
Cases have been registered against the accused under Section 272 of IPC (Adulteration of food and drink intended for sale), 273 of IPC (sale of noxious food or drink), Section 120 (b) (Criminal conspiracy) and Section 420 of IPC (Cheating).
