Hyderabad: The Foreign Cigarette Trade Racket Busted, Police seized cigarette packets worth Rs.19.2 Lakhs on Monday, the sleuths of Commissioner’s Task Force, West Zone team arrested two accused persons Ajaz Ali and Ali Raza who were transporting the banned Paris cigarettes from Bangladesh via Kolkata and Delhi.
The Police Seized 48000 Banned Cigarette packets Worth Rs.19,20,000/-, net cash of Rs.7000/-, Railway Bill receipts on the name of one Santosh Darvey, New Delhi, 1 TATA Ace Auto and 3 Cell phones.
The accused person Mohammed Hasanuddin @ Hasan who is running Kirana business on the name of SS Traders at Begum Bazar, Hyderabad is the kingpin and smuggling the banned Paris cigarettes from Bangladesh. The accused Hasan is procuring banned Paris cigarettes from a person at Delhi to Hyderabad; He used to send his associates Ajaz Ali and Ali Raza to receive the same material from Railway Station, Nampally, Hyderabad and used to supply the same to the local traders in Hyderabad.
The accused Hasan procuring Rs.20/- per 1 cigarette packet and used to supply the same for Rs.30/- in turn the local traders used to sell the same for Rs.40/-, on Monday the accused persons Ajaz Ali and Ali Raza while shifting the Cigarettes packets from Nampally Railway Station in an Auto B.No.TS11UA 0644, in the mean time Police arrested them along with 48000 banned Cigarette packets. The accused Mohammed Hasanuddin @ Hasan is absconding.
The Paris cigarettes suspected to be coming from Bangladesh via Kolkata on train. Smuggling foreign cigarettes is lucrative business to black marketers make a huge profit as they avoid customs duty. Smuggled cigarette are don’t have pictorial warnings on them, as it is a mandatory as per the provisions of Sec.20 (2) of Cigarette and Other Tobacco Product Act 2003. That the margin drawn in smuggling of cigarettes is approximately 100%, Paris is a cheap cigarette and which is available on low price and it is the act of replacement to Beedi in India. That, many foreign cigarettes contain a very high content of tobacco dust which is especially injurious to health, In spite of their hazardous nature, foreign brand cigarettes are a big hit among youth due to their slim and distinct flavor. Traders in Begum Bazar have their counter parts in other states from where these cigarettes are believed to be smuggled.
The increase of smuggling of cigarettes into the country is only robbing the government taxes but is also founding “Hawala” rackets and leading to the effect on tobacco farmers in the country. We are suspecting several other racketeers operating from Begum Bazar and other areas in Hyderabad.
The arrested accused persons along with seized material were handed over to SHO, Nampally PS, Hyderabad for further investigation.
B. Limba Reddy, Dy. Commissioner of Police Said.
