An official said on Friday that three persons were arrested after the police in Maharashtra`s Palghar district recovered gutka and banned tobacco products valued at Rs 6 lakh from them, reported news agency PTI.

Acting on inputs, the local crime branch on Thursday searched a tempo parked near a dhaba in the Talasari area.

Gutka and other tobacco products worth Rs 6 lakh were found in the vehicle. Three occupants of the tempo were arrested, the official said.

“A probe is underway to ascertain from where the banned goods were procured and to where they were being transported,” the police said in a release, reported PTI.

The trio has been identified as Mohammad Arjab Jamirul Haq (22), and Dilshad Shamshad Ali (20), both drivers hailing from Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Nenaram Chabhuji Gujar (48), a businessman from Rajsamand, Rajasthan, reported PTI.

Two truck drivers held with gutka consignments valued at Rs 1.23 cr in Palghar

Meanwhile, the police seized consignments of banned gutka, valued at Rs 1.23 crore, from two trucks on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Palghar district and arrested two drivers, an official said, reported news agency PTI.

“The banned tobacco products were concealed inside two containers and were being transported in violation of state laws and food safety regulations. The estimated value of the seized gutka is Rs 1.23 crore,” the Talasari police station officer told PTI.

He stated that the seizure was made during patrolling on Friday afternoon at Vikaspada in Talasar.

The drivers were arrested under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations and the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, reported PTI.

In another case, the police have confiscated the banned gutka valued at Rs 17.4 lakh from a tempo and arrested one person in this connection in Navi Mumbai, an official said, reported news agency PTI.

The tempo was intercepted on the Mumbai-Pune road on Monday evening.

Upon checking, the police recovered gutka of various brands from the vehicle, the official from Kamote police station said.

A 23-year-old man, resident of Kandivli in neighbouring Mumbai, was arrested in this connection on Tuesday, he said, reported PTI.

A case has been registered against the accused under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)

This article first appeared on Mid Day