Hyderabad: The city police on Saturday, October 5, raided multiple banned international cigarettes and fake Gold Flake cigarette godowns and arrested five individuals. The cops aso seized illegal cigarettes worth more than Rs one crore.

The raids were conducted at three different places in Hyderabad, including Malakpet, Madannapet and Shalibanda. The cigarettes seized included brands like Paris, Win, Esse, Don, Peacock, etc., which are banned from selling in India. The accused were importing it illegally and selling those for higher margins.

From the raid conducted in Malakpet, the police arrested Raju Yadav, 24, native of Bihar, residing at Jagdish market, Abids, and Mohammed Akbar, 34,a resident of Rein Bazar, and seized various brands of banned cigarettes worth Rs. 7,70,000.

Mohammed Faisal, 30, resident of Troop Bazar, Hyderabad was arrested from Madannapet, and Duplicate Gold Flake cigarettes worth Rs. 74,65,050 were seized from his godown. His accomplice, identified as Mohd Hasan Uddin, a resident of Shivarampally, Reanga Reddy district, is absconding, and efforts are underway to arrest him.

From the raids conducted under the Shalibanda police station limits, the police arrested Mohammad Afzal, 33, and Mohammed Shakeel, 55, both residents of Jahanuma, Kala Pathar, Hyderabad, and seized Various brands of banned cigarettes worth Rs. 17,76,000 from their possession.

Gold Flake cigarettes, produced by the Indian Tobacco Corporation(ITC), are one of the most popular cigarettes in India. Fake cigarettes, made using similar packaging or empty Gold Flake packets, sourced from cigarette shop owners, are seen as a lucrative way of making higher margins by the fake cigarette makers.

Counterfeit cigarettes that have been in supply in Hyderabad, which would be packed with low-quality tobacco and sold illegally at very high margins, posing severe health threats to users who are already at risk of lung cancer with the habit of smoking cigarettes, said the police.