Goa Gutka raided

MUMBAI, MARCH 9: Sensational raids by the anti-evasion wing of the Central Excise department on a farmhouse near Pune in the last week of ...

MUMBAI, MARCH 9: Sensational raids by the anti-evasion wing of the Central Excise department on a farmhouse near Pune in the last week of February revealed the clandestine manufacture of gutka compound (scented tobacco), leading to a trail of other such units.

The farmhouse, located 14 kms from Pune, is allegedly owned by J M Joshi and his wife, Vidya. Joshi is the owner of popular brands of gutka — Goa, Sitar and Vazir. He is also the MD of J M Advertising and Marketing Pvt Ltd. Goods worth Rs 40 lakh used in the manufacture of gutka were seized from the one-storeyed farmhouse.

Simultaneous raids at several places, including outside Maharashtra, revealed that the manufacture and clearance of gutka was being done through various franchisees, none of who had declared authentic quantities to the excise authorities. The duty evaded may run into several crores. Duty on gutka is levied on maximum retail price (MRP) and is very high.

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A large number of documents were also seized from the Pune and Mumbai (Powai) offices of Joshi’s group companies, sources reveal.

An estimated 400 MT of the compound has been allegedly clandestinely cleared from Pune in the last year-and-a-half itself. The compound, when mixed with other ingredients like supari (beetlenut), would finally yield 20 times more gutka (the finished product). At the Pune farmhouse search, over 22 MT of the compound were seized.

Various activities like production of pouches and perfumes were scattered over several places, to allegedly evade detection. Some units in Silvassa were also searched by excise officers.

Over 150 pouch-making machines were seized in the countrywide operation, extending to Indore, Kanpur, Hyderabad and Bangalore.