TIRUCHY: As much as 34,760 kgs of tobacco products seized in nine districts across the Central Zone were destroyed in Thanjavur on Tuesday, as per the court direction.
After intensive raids against the drugs and illegal sale of banned tobacco materials across the region, 34,760 kgs of tobacco materials were seized. According to the official records, among the seized contraband, Pudukkottai topped with the seizure of 10,007 kg, while in Tiruchy 6,983 kg, Tiruvarur 6,642 kg, Thanjavur 5,901 kg, Ariyalur 2,313 kg, Karur 1,706 kg, Mayiladuthurai 802 kg, Nagapattinam 288 kg and Perambalur 218 kg of banned tobacco items were seized.
And the police sought the direction from the court to destroy the seized tobacco materials, and thus, on Tuesday, as a part of anti-drug awareness day, 817 kgs of ganja and 889 sedative pills were destroyed at Medicare Enviro Systems, a private firm at Sengipatti, in the presence of the IGP (Central Zone) V Balakrishnan and DIGs of Tiruchy and Thanjavur ranges.
Similarly, the remaining seized tobacco items were destroyed in the districts in the presence of the respective Superintendent of Police, said the official communication from the IGP.
Meanwhile, the anti-drug awareness pledge was administered at as many as 2,619 places, including government offices, educational institutions, factories and other private firms across the zone, in which several lakhs of people took an oath against the use of drugs.