TIRUCHY: Food safety officials seized around 200 kg of banned gutka and sealed three shops in Tiruchy on Wednesday. According to Dr R Ramesh Babu, the Designated Officer, Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, the officials after receiving information that gutkha was widely available in Tiruchy City, a surprise raid was organised from Tuesday and seized 10kg of gutkha from Murugan tea stall at market area.

Based on information from the tea stall, a wholesale dealer Kumar from Thiruvanaikovil was secured and gutka weighing 28kg was seized. The team also found another wholesale dealer Ramachandran was stocking gutkha in his apartment in Thillai Nagar and seized 163 kg. Cases were filed seprately against five persons and shops were sealed by the officials.