Hyderabad: The police raided a shop and apprehended three people for selling e-cigarettes (Vapes) and banned foreign cigarettes worth Rs 2 lakh on Wednesday, August 19.

Acting on a tip-off, sleuths of the Commissioner’s Task Force, Jubilee Hills, conducted the raid with Banjara Hills Police. The seized goods include 53 Vapes and 76 cigarette boxes.

The men have been identified as Mohammed Muneer, 26; Abdul Rahman Meehraj, 25; and Mohammed Eyas, 19. Muneer is from Maharashtra, while the other two are from Kasaragod in Kerala.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that they had recently come to Hyderabad, where they started a business under the name ‘Smokers.in’.

On learning that both vapes and foreign-brand cigarettes were sought after in Hyderabad, they decided to procure banned foreign cigarettes from Mumbai at an average rate of Rs 600 to 800 and sell them in Hyderabad at Rs 2,500.

The sale, manufacture, import, distribution, transport, storage, and advertisement of e-cigarettes are prohibited under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act.