Summary:
The owner of the illegal products, who is said to be a non-Manipuri, however, could not be arrested immediately. Later the confiscated products were set ablaze near Nagamapal road.The trucker revealed that the products were bought from Guwahati and came along the Imphal-Dimapur route, and that a total amount of Rs 10,000 was given as bribe to various police checkposts in Nagalang and Manipur to allow passage of the truck.The city police immediately registered an FIR on the case. IMPHAL: Volunteers of the Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), along with locals, consigned a large quantity of tobacco products , worth over Rs one crore, into flames , at Nagamapal in the city on Thursday night .Comprising khaini zarda and gutka , the tobacco products were confiscated from a truck and four godowns at Nagamapal.In February 2013, the state government had put a ban on storage and sale of smokeless tobacco products and since then government agencies, local clubs, NGOs and student bodies have been confiscating tobacco products from goods trucks and godowns.Despite the ban and numerous raids, people sell tobacco products abundantly in a clandestine manner across the state.DESAM volunteers, along with local club members and Meira Paibis (women vigil group), carried out a raid at an interstate goods truck at Nagamapal and found the tobacco products.Following the revelation of the trucker, the volunteers also raided four godowns near the area and found similar products in bulk..