Chennai: The city police on Monday night seized a huge quantity of foreign cigarettes and cash from a house in Triplicane here, and arrested a 31-year-old man in connection with the seizure.
Sources said, acting on a tip-off, Triplicane police carried out a raid in a house behind the Big Mosque and found 729 packets of Benson and Hedges cigarettes worth Rs. 7 lakh and Rs. 60,000 in cash.
Police said Jawahar Ali, of Devipattinam in Ramanathapuram was arrested from the spot. However, the owner of the smuggled consignment, Syyed Abudaheer (34) of Ashok Nagar in Chennai, was absconding.
According to police, Syyed smuggled the cigarettes from Singapore and Malaysia, and intended to sell them in the black market here. But on Monday, neighbours who were suspicious about Sayyed’s business, alerted the police.
Police arrested Jawahar and registered a case under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act.
Meanwhile, Jawahar told police that he had joined as worker only on Monday, and that he did not know it was an illegal business. Investigations are on.
