Sleuths of the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) and the police busted an inter-State gutkha, ganja and foreign cigarettes smuggling racket on Saturday.
The banned products were being smuggled from Hyderabad to Puducherry via East Godavari district, said Krishna district Superintendent of Police M. Ravindranath Babu.
Police spotted the accused shifting the stocks from a van to an autorickshaw near Donabanda village and took them into custody, said SEB Additional Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal.
Based on the information provided by the accused, police raided a godown at Ravulapalem in East Godavari district and seized the gutkha stocks, Mr. Jindal said.
“The seized material included gutkha worth ₹54.90 lakh, foreign cigarettes worth ₹68,000, 5.5 kg of ganja, a van, an autorickshaw and five mobile phones,” said Mr. Ravindranath Babu.
Nandigama Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) G.V. Ramana Murthy said the accused have been identified as Nunna Venkata Buchi Raju alias Raju of Tallarevu in East Godavari district, Sathi Ramagopal Reddy of Ravulapalem, Kamadi Venkanna Babu of Yanam and Bommaraju Krishna of Saroornagar, Hyderabad.
“The accused were smuggling the contraband from Hyderabad to Ravulapalem. We also seized ₹6.30 lakh cash from the gang,” the DSP said.
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