Airport police booked a 22-year-old woman for allegedly selling banned e-cigarettes, hookah flavours and ganja from a cosmetic jewellery shop in Viman Nagar.[1] The raid was conducted on Tuesday night, 3 November, and police seized contraband and other materials worth Rs 2.17 lakh from the shop and a motorcycle parked outside it.[1] The accused was identified as Abhilasha Pankaj Ahirrao, a Viman Nagar resident operating Cloud Cartel at Shop No. 9, Lunkad Dreamland.[1] PSI Nitin Rathod of Airport police station told Pune Times Mirror that police received information about the illegal sale of e-cigarettes and hookah flavours on the night of 3 November.[1] Rathod said Ahirrao was facing financial difficulties and had started selling the products, and that police seized the goods and served her a notice to appear for further investigation.[1]
Police recovered 130 grams of ganja during the operation.[1] During the search police recovered Elf Bar, iJet Pop and Yuto Beyonder e-cigarettes, hookah flavours, two hookah pots and a small weighing scale.[1] The seizure also included 130 grams of ganja, a mobile phone, an electric motorcycle and Rs 24,500 in cash.[1] The seized material included 15 e-cigarettes from the shop and 10 Elf Bar watermelon honey pods from the trunk of a motorcycle parked outside.[1] Police also seized 17 packets of different hookah flavours and other equipment allegedly used in the business.[1] The total value of the seized material including the electric motorcycle and mobile phone was estimated at Rs 2,17,100.[1] Airport police registered a case against Ahirrao under Sections 8(a) and 20(b)(ii)(A) of the NDPS Act, 1985 and provisions of vaping and tobacco laws.[1]
Ahirrao had earlier operated a shop in Deccan which she shut last month before starting Cloud Cartel in Viman Nagar.[1] Investigators suspect she took orders over the phone and sold prohibited products targeting customers in the surrounding area with several IT companies and educational institutions.[1] Police said further investigation is under way to ascertain the source of the banned products and identify whether others were involved.[1]
