CBI gets four day custody of 5 accused in gutka case

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A CBI court on Monday granted the investigating agency four-day custody of the five accused arrested in the multi-crore gutka scam. Special judge Thiruneela Prasad passed the order while allowing a petition from the agency, seeking custody of the accused, who were arrested on September 6.

The five are P Senthil Murugan of Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, N K Pandian, a superintendent of the Central Excise Department and promoters of the banned gutka business, A V Madhava Rao, Uma Shankar Gupta and P V Srinivasa Rao.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had carried out searches at 35 locations in Tamil Nadu on September 5, including the residences of state police chief T K Rajendran and health minister C Vijayabaskar.

According to the agency, the promoters of the gutka firm had illegally been carrying on trade of tobacco products in the state even after the ban came into force in 2013. The scam came to light on July 8, 2017, when the Income Tax department raided the godown, offices and residences of the company in Tamil Nadu, which had been facing charges of tax evasion to the tune of Rs 250 crore.

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