SHILLONG: In an indication that foreign brand cigarettes are being smuggled into Shillong, police on Monday raided two shops in the city and seized 44 packets of foreign made cigarettes.
The raids were conducted at the shop of Krishna Sewa at Assam Rifles Bazar, Happy Valley, and L. Daniel Hmar at Madanrting.
The seizure comes in the wake of a recent interception of a consignment of over 1,000 cartons of smuggled cigarettes worth over Rs.9 lakh at Guwahati Customs sleuths from Shillong. The consignment was meant to be smuggled to Meghalaya.
It is learnt that there is illegal movement of cigarettes from Myanmar to the North East through Bangladesh border, but strict vigilance in the border has resulted in a decline in cases of smuggling.
Earlier, a report in July this year said that Assam and Meghalaya were incurring revenue losses to the tune of Rs.700 crore every year due to illegal trade of cigarettes, manufactured locally as well as smuggled from neighbouring countries.
Moreover, almost 23 crore illegal tax-evaded cigarette sticks are sold in these two states every month.
As per reports, very high VAT rate on cigarettes in Assam and Meghalaya in comparison to the national average is the key reason for the growing illegal market of tobacco in these two states.
When contacted, East Khasi Hills SP M. Kharkrang said this is the first case when foreign made cigarettes have been seized in Shillong and asserted that police were trying to identify the kingpin of the illegal trade.
