Gutka worth Rs 23L seized, two arrested

Coimbatore: The Sathyamangalam police arrested two men on Tuesday for smuggling banned tobacco products worth Rs 23 lakh from Karnataka.
The arrested people were identified as S Salman Mohammed, 28, of Palakkad in Kerala and T Balasubramaniam, 45, of Thottiyam in Trichy district.
After receiving a tip-off, a police team searched two truck at the Bannari check post on Tuesday morning and found gunny bags containing cotton.“Banned tobacco products were hidden under the bags. They were being transported to Tamil Nadu from Kolipalaya village in Chamrajanagar in Karnataka,” a police officer said.
Police seized the products, worth Rs 23 lakh and the two vehicles. “The accused were drivers of the trucks. They told us that they were smuggling the products to Pudukkottai and Thottiyam in Trichy. More people are involved in the smuggling and we have formed a special team to nab them,” the officer added.