Berhampur Police Busts Illegal Gutkha Factory; Seizes Raw Materials/Gutkha Worth Rs 2 Crore

Berhampur: In a major achievement, an illegal Gutkha factory was busted by Berhampur Police yesterday at Ramachandrapur. According to reports, on receipt of reliable information regarding stacking of illegal Gutkha products at Ramchandrapur, a team of Berhampur Police conducted raid and found huge quantity of raw materials weighing about 14000 Kilograms, 20 large Bags containing banned Gutkha products, incrementing articles including machines used for manufacturing and other items kept in three manufacturing/storage units for transport. During enquiry it was ascertained that one Narendra Kumar Sahu of Durbandha is the kingpin who has illegally manufactured the said Gutkha products and transporting it to all over Odisha and other states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Mitu Sahu is his associate and was managing the day-to-day operations of Narendra Kumar Sahu. The value of the items seized will be more than two crore rupees.

During search of the above units, ten manufacturing machines, Polythene Rolls and other raw materials mentioned above were found and seized. It is found that the owner was manufacturing, trading, and storing the finished Gutkha products and raw materials without any license or authority for wrongful gain.

Steps are being taken to arrest the prime accused Narendra Kumar Sahu and his associate Mitu Sahu who are absconding. Investigation of the case is in progress.