HYDERABAD: New challenges lie ahead for law enforcement agencies in the state following the widespread crackdown on the sale of gutka products at pan shops. With there being about 3 lakh such pan shops and retail outlets in the state, this move directly affects the livelihoodsof about 8 lakh persons.
According to sources, pan shops in various parts of the city are now engaged in either directly or indirectly abetting other illegal activities to make up for the losses incurred due to the crackdown.
Some pan shops at Charminar, Kalapather, Golconda, Bandlaguda, Katedan, Rajendran-agar, Bhavaninagar, Afzalsagar and Shah-eenagar are now selling packs of playing cards. A few months ago, the police also caught the owners of a few pan shops accepting cricket betting amounts and satta amounts from bookies.
“In the long run, almost all pan shops will turn into hotspots or facilitation points for illegal activities. A long-term economic assistance plan should simultaneously be drawn up for them, otherwise the crackdown will result in new challenges,” says Amjed Ullah Khan, the leader of the Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT).
Md Salahuddin, the general secretary of the All India Pan Shop Owners’ Association, says, “We are not against the restrictions imposed on the sale of gutkha and other tobacco products. But at the same time, they should be incentives for us. How does the government expect us to earn a livelihood?”
Shop owners have also started selling foreign cigarettes illegally imported from Myan-mar and other countries because of the high margins.
