Aurangabad, Nov 27:
The Crime Branch seized banned Gutkha amounting Rs 25 lakh from Batco Transport at Old Mondha on Thursday. It was found that some Gutkha of it was brought by a person named Nadim from Indore. However, the mystery over the owner of the remaining Gutkha continues. The arrested transport manager has not given any information about the owner of the remaining Gutkha, and hence the curiosity about the Gutkha owner has increased. Meanwhile, the court remanded the accused manager in police custody for two days.
The sale and consumption of Gutkha is banned in the state. However, it is being sold openly at every nook and corner in the city. Hence, it is supplied enormously by the suppliers due to the huge demand here. Eight days back, the police commissioner’s special team intervened a tempo carrying Gutkha on Asegaon Road. After this action, the crime branch seized Gutkha amounting Rs 25 lakh from Batco Transport brought from other states to sell in the city, on Thursday. The police arrested Batco Transport manager, Hanif Abdul Rehman Patni (43, Times Colony). The police asked him about the owner of the Gutkha, but he has not unveiled the suspense yet. He only informed that a person named Shaikh Nadim brought Gutkha worth Rs 9 lakh from Indore on Thursday morning, but the suspense about the owner of the remaining Gutkha continues.
Meanwhile, PI Vyankatesh Kendre produced the manager Patni in the court today, and he was remanded in police custody till November 29. The lawyers of the accused opposed the police custody, but PI Kendre himself himself appeared before the court and said that investigation has to be done about the owner of the Gutkha and the documents have to be seized. Similarly, the accused Nadim Shaikh, is at large, and he has to be arrested.
Nadim Shaikh is at large since the arrest of the manager Patni. He is a Gutkha supplier on the police record. The Jinsi police had earlier arrested him. However, the police are investigating whether Shaikh Nadim is the same person.