A racket of selling counterfeit cigarettes in the city was busted after two men were arrested and handed over to police in Chowk area, officials said on Tuesday. A case was lodged and the two men arrested were questioned to trace the wider network of the trade. “FIR was registered under BNS sections and Trade Mark Act 1999,” said SHO Chowk Nagesh Upadhyay. “The accused were identified as Mohammad Arshad, resident of Vrindavan Colony, Telibagh and Hamza Bashar, resident of Hata Bhikam Khan, Abdul Aziz Road,” read the FIR.According to police, Tittoo Sharma, manager of Anvesh IPR Protection Enforcement Company and resident of Shankar Gali in Naujheel, Mathura, received information that some people were manufacturing and selling fake cigarettes in the name of a popular brand.Acting on a tip-off, Sharma contacted the suspects posing as customer and placed an order. The accused agreed to supply the cigarettes and asked him to collect the consignment near Koneshwar crossing in the Chowk area.When the two reached the spot to deliver the cigarettes, they were intercepted and caught and a batch of counterfeit cigarettes bearing a brand name and cigarettes that are banned for sale in India from their possession.
