TIRUPATI: The East division police sleuths, during a raid on Friday, seized firecrackers worth Rs 12 lakh from a trader at Indira Priyadarshini Vegetable Municipal market in Tirupati where he had illegally stored the crackers against the rules.
With just 10 days left for Diwali this year, acting on the directive of the Supreme Court, the police launched a drive against the illegal sale of firecrackers in the temple city.
According to Tirupati East SI, Sheik Shavali, acting on a tip off, the sleuths raided a shop at the Municipal market on Friday, seized firecrackers worth approximately Rs 12 lakh and arrested the owner of the shop, identified as Gopal,57.
The trader confessed to having purchased the firecrackers from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu and illegally storing them at his shop as he expected a heavy demand during the Diwali festive season, police said.
“The arrested trader runs a grocery shop at the market, where he illegally stored firecrackers to make some quick money ahead of the festival though he did not have a licence to store the crackers,” the SI said. A case has been registered against the accused under the relevant sections of the IPC and the Explosives Act and the seized material will be produced at the local court, he added.
