Three persons were arrested for allegedly selling e-cigarettes and banned foreign cigarettes to customers in Hyderabad, with the Commissioner’s Task Force and Banjara Hills police seizing 53 vapes, 10 bottles of flavours and 76 boxes of cigarettes worth ₹2 lakh.
The accused were identified as Mohammed Muneer, 26, a businessman from Srinagar Colony, Abdul Rahman Meehraj, 25, also a businessman from Srinagar Colony, and Mohammed Eyas, 19, who works at smokers.in.
Acting on credible information, the Jubilee Hills Zone team of the Commissioner’s Task Force, along with Banjara Hills police, raided the place at Srinagar Colony and found the three allegedly in possession of the prohibited products.
According to police, the accused told investigators that they were natives of Kerala and had recently come to Hyderabad, where they started the business. They allegedly told police that they had noticed the demand for e-cigarettes and foreign cigarettes in the city and decided to make money by selling them.
The accused allegedly procured banned foreign cigarettes from Mumbai for ₹600 to ₹800 a box and sold them in Hyderabad for up to ₹2,500, police said.
The police said the sale, manufacture, import, distribution, transport, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes are prohibited under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act.
Published – August 19, 2026 07:49 pm IST
