Tejas Navale

Pune: Yesterday, a team from the Pune police crime branch raided a warehouse on Sinhagad Road, seizing an illicit gutkha worth crores of rupees. In this action, police seized a gutkha worth 1 crore 39 lakh rupees and arrested four individuals, whereas one accused is at large.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Pushpendra Akbal Singh (age 27), Sunil Patthan Singh (age 45), Chandan Ajaypal Singh (age 32), all three original natives of Uttar Pradesh, and Mukesh Kaluram Gehlot (age 28), an original native of Rajasthan. In this case, police also registered a case against their accomplice, Nilesh Lalwani, who is at large, and police are investigating him.

According to the information, the team of the Pune police crime branch received a tip-off informing them of the illicit production and storage of gutkha in one of the warehouses in Narhe on Sinhagad Road. Police learned that a few accused were storing banned gutkha in this warehouse and supplying it to nearby retailers.

Accordingly, police commissioner Amitesh Kumar ordered a police action against the perpetrators on Saturday. Accordingly, on Saturday night, crime branch unit 2 along with the social security department busted a warehouse. In this action, police captured illicit gutkha worth 1 crore 39 lakh rupees. The police booked all the accused under sections of the Food Safety Act.

This action has been taken by the team of police personnel and the social security department under the guidance of Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Additional Police Commissioner of Crime Branch Shailesh Balkawade, and Deputy Commissioner of Police Amol Zende.