Grocer held for fleecing cigarette buyers

A grocery store owner has been arrested in northern Bengaluru’s Sunkadakatte for selling cigarettes at exorbitant prices.

CCB police inspector V M Guruprasad on Wednesday got a tip-off that Nandha Kumar, the owner of Dhanyam Traders store on Tent Road, Srinivasa Nagar, was charging more than the MRP for cigarettes.

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One of the policemen posing as a customer asked for a pack of cigarettes. Kumar asked him to pay more than the MRP. Other policemen then walked into the shop and seized cigarette packets and other tobacco products.

Guruprasad than filed a police complaint.

He said Kumar was also selling a few brands of cigarettes that didn’t have the specified health warning. What’s more, his shop is located near to an educational institution. Kamakshipalya police have taken up a case under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) and IPC section 188 for violating prohibitory order, and arrested Kumar.

Ciggies sold at home

In a separate raid, Vijayanagar police arrested Ramamurthy (40), of Panchasheela Nagar in Vijayanagar, for selling cigarettes at his home. Sub-inspector Nagesh M E and his team found 390 packets of cigarettes worth over Rs 40,000 during the raid.