A joint team of State Tobacco Control Cell and Police Department on Tuesday seized imported cigarette packets while inspecting an outlet located at the Elante mall in the city. According to the officials, the seized cigarette didn’t have pictorial warning as prescribed under section 7 of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) Act 2003.
COTPA act 2003 was brought by the government to control the use of tobacco in the country.
An official said that they had ‘inputs’ about the illegal cigarettes and during the raid all the items which were in contradict to the COTPA Act 2003 were ceased and handed over to the police. During the raid, as many as 67 packets of cigarettes were seized. Flavoured imported hookahs and molasses were also seized in large quantity, officials said.
After receiving specific information, State Nodal Officer of Chandigarh State Tobacco Control Cell Dr Deepak Bakshi along with the officials of the police station of Industrial Area Phase-I conducted a special drive at “Once upon a bottle” outlet which is located at the ground floor of Elante Mall, officials said. “All the flavored hookahs and molasses will be sent to the CFSL Sector-36 to check for presence of nicotine contents and if it is found, as per the reports, a further action will be initiated as per the provisions under various section in the court of law,” said Bakshi. He said that copy of the seizure memo has been retained in the office of Chandigarh Tobacco Control cell and a report has already been sent to the higher authorities.
Bakshi further added, “The Union Territory of Chandigarh has zero tolerance towards hookahs as well as violations under COTPA Act under 2003. These surprise checks will continue in near future as well.”