Visakhapatnam: Gutka manufacturing racket busted, 10 arrested

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Two gutka (tobacco) manufacturing houses were busted and 10 persons were arrested on Saturday by the Visakhapatnam City Police.

The police has also seized a total of 80 kg of cannabis in Rushikonda area near Geetham college. The seizure of various raw materials used in the manufacturing of gutka estimated at Rs 45 to 50 lakh.

City Police Commissioner RK Meena said, "Out of 12, 10 persons have been arrested and a case against them has been registered under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act."

The accused used to bring the cannabis from Paderu, Araku and other places at cheaper rates and later sold them to youth at Rs 500 for each Cannabis cigarettes, the police said.

"The task force here has been keeping an eye on all such illegal manufacturing units. The accused may have chosen Rushikonda since it is outskirts of the city located and hence it is easy to ship the contraband to other parts of the state" the Commissioner added.

Consumption of gutka is banned in India under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations of 2011 and the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. In 2015, Andhra Pradesh joined 17 other States to ban gutka and other tobacco products.