Two held with illegal cigarette consignment worth Rs 12.5 lakh in Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) The crime branch has busted a racket supplying cigarettes without the mandatory pictorial health warnings and arrested two men with a consignment worth around Rs 12.5 lakh, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused, Uvaish Siddiqui (22) and Abdul Kalam (19), from Bawana in Delhi, were apprehended on Monday from the Farash Khana area, he said.

Police said a total of 3,215 packets of cigarettes of different brands, containing 64,300 sticks, were recovered during the operation. The consignment included high-end foreign brands.

Police said the racket came to light after a team received a tip-off about illegal supplies of cigarettes being carried out in central Delhi. The cigarettes were being sold without the statutory warnings mandated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

A raiding team laid a trap in the Farash Khana area and kept watch. On the indication of the informer, two men riding separate scooters were intercepted. One of the scooters had a carton tied to its rear seat. On checking, 1,000 packets of cigarettes were found inside.

The accused were unable to provide satisfactory replies about the consignment. They were later identified as Siddiqui and Kalam.

"On interrogation, the duo led the police to a godown in Farash Khana, from where 2,215 more packets of cigarettes of different brands were recovered. In total, 3,215 packets containing 64,300 sticks were seized," he added.

Police said Siddiqui, who studied till Class 10, had been supplying illegal cigarettes for the past two months. Kalam, a Class 12 pass-out, was also indulging in the same activity for about two months. PTI BM ANM HIG