Hyderabad: The Central Zone Task Force apprehended eight persons with branded gutka worth Rs 54 lakh which was being transported in two trucks.
The arrested men are Chunchu Ramulu, 56, Muthyam Suryanarayana alias Suresh, 53, Muthyam Ramesh, 41, Gadde Narendra, 41, Obul Setty Hari Babu, 46, Kalal Balraj, 23, Mohd Kamran, 25, and Maddula Lakshmana Hanumanth Prasad, 49.
The police seized 57 bags and 46 cartons containing gutka, two trucks and 10 cell phones from them.
“Muthyam Suresh and Muthyam Ramesh are siblings and were distributors of gutka. Earlier, they were distributing it in united AP through their business V.M. Traders. After prohibition they shifted their business to Gandhi Gunj in Bidar and were running the business as S.R. Agencies since three years. Obul was a regular customer before the ban on Gutka. The gang contacted Narendra, the manager of Kaveri Road Carriers to help in the transportation to Guntur from Hyderabad. Suresh and Narendra met Ramulu and started the transportation,” said Commissioner's Task Force DCP B. Limba Reddy.
Police said that Suresh brings gutka from Bidar to Hyderabad in private vehicles. Ramulu packs them in cartons and hides them in poly bags with the help of office boy Bal Raj and driver Mohd Kamran and sends them to Kukatpally head office where Narendra used to load them with other goods and transport it illegally to Guntur. Hari Babu and his accountant M.L.H. Prasad receive the goods at Guntur and sell them to paan shops illegally, police said.
On Monday the police arrested them and they were sent to judicial custody.
