CBI arrests five in Gutka scam

The arrested were identified as A V Madhava Rao, Srinivasa Rao and Uma Shankar Gupta, promoters of Annamalai Industries Dr P Senthil Murugan of Food Safety and Drug Administration department of Tamil Nadu and N K Pandian, a superintendent of Central Excise department. All the five have been remanded in judicial custody for 15 days.

On Wednesday, CBI investigators had carried out searches in 35 locations across the State including the residence of state DGP T K Rajendran and state health minister C Vijaya Baskar.

The case pertains to illegal sale of gutkha, a concoction of tobacco and ‘pan masala’ which was banned in Tamil Nadu in 2013.

Jayam Industries owned by Madhava Rao and others were renamed as Annamalai Industries to continue sale, officials said.

The places searched were residential premises of the promoters/directors of the company and other public servants including officials of Sales Tax Department, Customs and Central Excise, Food Safety and Drug Administration Department and jurisdictional police officials,” the CBI spokesperson had said. The promoter-directors of Jayam Industries -- A V Madhava Rao, Uma Shankar Gupta and Srinivas Rao -- continued selling MDM brand gutkha in the State even after the ban by allegedly influencing officials, politicians and other regulatory authorities.

The scam came to light on July 8, 2016, when Income-Tax sleuths raided the godown of the gutkha manufacturer along with the offices and residences of the company in Tamil Nadu, which had been facing charges of tax evasion. During the raids, the Income- Tax department had stumbled upon a ledger containing names of those who had been receiving the bribes. The case was initially probed by the DVAC and later handed over to the CBI this April.