The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) conducted raids and sealed around 30 shops selling gutkha, pan masala and cigarettes near schools and colleges in Saidapet, T Nagar, Villivakkam and other areas of Chennai on Friday. Speaking to indianexpress.com, food safety officer Dr P Satheesh Kumar said the FSSAI had intensified such raids since last month in collaboration with police. “Based on the directions of the Chief Minister MK Stalin and as per the guidance of our health secretary, we started the raids on November 19. Till now we have sealed over 50-60 shops, and around Rs 1.6 lakh in fines has been collected from the registered and licensed shops. This is a special drive undertaken along with the city police. The shops should not sell gutkha, pan masala, cigarettes and other tobacco products within 100 m from educational institutions. The police will register an FIR against them and we will close the shops as per the FSSAI guidelines,” he said. As part of a special drive, the Food Safety officials in collaboration with Chennai Police raided shops selling tobacco products near schools and colleges in the city. Today, officials sealed around 30 shops, and cases were registered against the shop owners. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/xBvyPFYOoT — Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) December 1, 2023 The officer said that people who find such shops near educational institutions can contact the FSSAI, send a WhatsApp message to 9444042322, or visit the nearby police station to register a complaint. According to the city police, they registered 225 cases and arrested 245 people in the past one week in connection with the smuggling and selling of banned tobacco products. “A total of 2,365 kg of banned gutkha products, 512 kg of mava, two cell phones, cash worth Rs 53,930 and four motor cycles were seized from them,” a statement from the police said Wednesday.
