Hyderabad: Foreign cigarettes worth 1 crore seized, 5 nabbed by task force

Hyderabad: The North Zone task force on Friday seized foreign cigarettes of various brands worth Rs. one crore and more.

The task force received a tip-off about the transportation of foreign cigarettes. Upon receiving the information, the cops laid a trap and nabbed five accused persons who were indulging in smuggling the foreign cigarettes. The accused persons were identified as, Vipul Ranka, Jagadish Kumar, Doongarchand Shrishrimal, Pavan Kumar and M.A. Haneef while another accused Ravinder Singh is absconding.

The Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, Anjani Kumar, while addressing the media said that, the task force after receiving information laid a trap at Rishab Agency in Siddiamber Bazar and intercepted one goods auto trolley and found the huge quantities of stashed foreign cigarettes. The cops further proceeded to the godown of Sarna transports at Goshamahal and nabbed the five accused who were managing the business.

He noted, "The main accused Vipul Ranka was operating a tailoring material business at Begum Bazar and also used to sell Agarbatti material on the pretext of D. Rajesh Kumar & Co. However due to insufficient earnings he hatched a conspiracy to earn more and in this process of earning more money he came across the owner of Sarna Transports, Ravinder Singh Sarna who is absconding."

"The accused then colluded with Ravinder Singh and used his godown for stocking the foreign cigarettes. The godown was managed by Pavan and Haneef, they used to sell the cigarettes to the wholesalers after getting an order from Ravinder Singh and Vipul," added the Commissioner.

He further noted, "While continuing with their illegal business, the main accused Vipul came in contact with Jagadish and Doongarchand who worked as wholesale distributors and sold the foreign cigarettes to the retail shop owners such as pan shops, kirana shops, local marketing agents, et al. In such a way, the accused Vipul was maintaining an entire racket of foreign cigarettes which he procured from Delhi.

These foreign cigarettes are being illegally smuggled from countries like China, Malaysia, Switzerland & South Korea to evade taxes and are being sold in Delhi, Hyderabad and other states at cheaper rates with heavy margin to the sellers. Compared to Indian brands, consumers also preferred to buy such cigarettes due to its international quality and brands.

The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) has made it mandatory to have graphic health warnings on the 85 per cent space of the cigarette packet and the Union government levies heavy taxes on the tobacco products to discourage their sale. But these foreign cigarettes have no health warning on it.