Massive gutkha drive: 109 shops in Thanjai sealed

TIRUCHY: On a single day, the Thanjavur administration sealed nearly 109 shops for selling banned gutkha on Friday. Notices were sent to respective shop owners.

In a mega raid to prevent sale of gutkha and other similar substances in the shops across Thanjavur district, the special teams seized banned items from as many as 109 shops.

Subsequently, the district administration sent a notice to the respective shopkeepers. While a few failed to respond to the notice, replies from those who responded were not satisfactory. So Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver ordered for sealing all such shops. Based on the order, the officials under the direct monitoring of Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver and SP G Ravali Priya sealed as many as 11 shops in Thanjavur city. Similarly, the special teams had sealed as many as 98 shops in the outskirts of the city.

“We have clearly given instructions not to sell banned gutkha and other tobacco substances within the 100 metre radius of educational institutions. But, these shopkeepers failed to adhere to the instructions. Since they were selling despite warning, we initiated legal action. The raids will continue,” said the Collector.

SP Ravali Priya said, around 200 cases were registered against those who sold ganja in the district last month. Operation ganja 2.0 has been actively undertaken in the district and such punitive actions would continue, she said.