TIRUCHY: In a joint raid organised by the food safety department and Tiruchy city police, four shops selling banned gutkha in Gandhi Market were sealed on Monday.

On information that banned gutkha was available widely across Gandhi market area, food safety officials headed by Dr Ramesh Babu along with police conducted a surprise inspection in the shops across the Gandhi market and sealed the shops of M Karuppiah (55), T Chelladurai (79), S Mariappan (53) and B Natarajan (44) and registered a case against them.

City Commissioner of Police N Kamini rushed to the spot and inspected the shops and later told the media that the police has so far registered as many as 615 cases against those who sold the banned gutkha and arrested as many as 621 persons and seized 1,390 kgs of gutka worth Rs 14 lakh.

The police also have seized five four wheelers, three two wheelers and one auto rikshaw used for smuggling gutkha.