Three persons, who rented a house in Tiruchy and distributed banned gutka, were arrested and 800 kgs of gutkha seized from them on Saturday.

On a tip off that a huge quantity of banned gutkha has been hoarded in a rented house, the Tiruchy SP Sujit Kumar ordered a raid. A special team led by the Tiruverumbur Inspector Chandramohan rushed to the house at Priyanka Nagar near Kattur and found a huge quantity of gutkha has been stocked in the house which was rented by a noted gutka trader Palanikumar of Ariyamangalam.

Soon the police arrested him and seized 800 kgs of gutkha bundles that were about to be distributed across the district.

The police also arrested Palanikumar’s associates Udayakumar from Marakkadai and Ismail from Thuvakudi.

The initial investigation found that the accused used to stock the banned gutka and distribute it to the locals in the name of masala. The police said that the seized gutkha was worth Rs 20 lakh. The police also seized the vehicle used to transport the contraband.

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