Unknown gutkha firm tries to ride on Dhoni wave

State Food Controller Dr Pradeep said he had no clues about who the manufacturer could be. ‘‘No firm by this name (Sai Enterprise) has been given the licence to manufacture gutkha,’’ he told The Indian Express. ‘‘We are going to inquire into it,’’ he said.

Ranchi SSP RK Mullick is on the lookout for the manufacturer. ‘‘After we heard about it, we began to probe the matter. We have no clue about the manufacturer,’’ said Mullick.

Salim Ali, a pan shop owner outside the GEL Church Market in Ranchi, had bought a stock of Dhoni Gutkha, along with the usual brands manufactured in Kanpur. The popularity of Dhoni, epitomised in the lifesize billboards along the highways, prompted Ali to stock the gutkha. ‘‘I accepted its supply with the hope of doing good business. My calculation was based on the belief that in the hometown of Dhoni, Dhoni Gutkha will sell. But out of Rs 500-worth stock, only 50 pouches were sold in the past three days.’’ A pouch costs Rs 1.

Pradeep Chaurasia, owner of the most popular pan shop in Ranchi, was more circumspect. He had not accepted the supply of Dhoni Gutkha. ‘‘We are studying the response of the customers. If the demand picks up, we will procure it,’’ said Chaurasia.

However, Akhilesh Yadav, who runs his pan shop at Shyamali Colony where Dhoni’s father resides, said the sale of Dhoni Gutkha was picking up. ‘‘As news about the brand spread, sale went up. I sold 120 packs today,’’ he said.