Six tonnes of gutkha seized in Poonamallee

The police arrested five persons involved in running the business which transported the banned tobacco items, including gutkha, to various parts of South India. Police said they had been monitoring the activities at the godown located at Steel City Bypass Road, Poonamallee, for the last many days before carrying out searches on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner of Adyar, Shashank Sai, along with a five-member team started the searches at the godown from 6 am on Friday. Over six tonnes of gutkha, worth over Rs 50 lakh, and Rs 5.37 lakh were seized from the spot. Besides, five vehicles were also seized from the spot.  Police arrested a buyer, Senthil (39) from Vellore, who was at the godown at the time of the raids. The other arrested persons were identified as Muthulingam (32) from Nazarethpet, Jabastin (19), Kumar (19) and Issac (20) from Tirunelveli.