A 52-year-old man was arrested by the Gudiyatham City police in Vellore on Sunday for working a unit that manufactured banned tobacco merchandise, comparable to gutkha, in Gudiyatham for the previous few years. The police recognized the arrested as R. Gothandapani of Gudiyatham.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that he had transformed his terrace right into a hans and gutkha manufacturing unit a couple of years in the past. He bought the merchandise to people and retail merchants in Ranipet, Kancheepuram, and Chennai.

Based mostly on a tip-off, the police searched his home and located 350 kg of banned tobacco merchandise, together with gutkha. The police seized the objects and tools that had been used to fabricate the merchandise. A case was registered. Gothandapani was lodged within the Central Jail in Vellore. A probe is beneath method.