C'garh lockdown: Scribe held for transporting gutkha, tobacco

Raigarh, May 1 () A local journalist and anotherperson were arrested for allegedly carrying banned gutkha andtobacco products in a car with a press sticker on it duringthe coronavirus-induced lockdown in Chhattisgarh's Raigarhdistrict, police said on Friday.

A police official identified the two accused asShamimuddin Kadri (43), a journalist with a local weeklynewspaper, and Mohammad Naeem (32).

"Their car with a press sticker was intercepted onThursday near Shaheed Chowk. We found 18,410 pouches of gutkhaand other tobacco products packed in nine plastic bags. It wasbeing transported from Gharghoda. The seized items have aprice label value of Rs 52,462, though, obviously, they wereto be sold at much higher rates due to the lockdown," he said.

The two have been charged under section 188 (defyinglawful order of a public servant) of the IPC, he added. COR TKPBNM BNM