10 held as Delhi Police busts banned e-cigarette network supplying products near schools, colleges

The Delhi Police has busted an alleged network involved in the illegal storage and distribution of banned e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes across the national capital, apprehending 10 people, including seven pan-shop owners, officials said on Tuesday.

The police recovered 551 prohibited e-cigarettes and 1.02 lakh conventional cigarettes during the operation, which uncovered a three-tier supply chain allegedly catering to pan shops across Delhi, including those located near schools, colleges and coaching centres, they said.

On November 2, police received specific information that a man identified as Sumit Aggarwal alias Micky (37), who ran a hookah shop in Tri Nagar, was storing banned e-cigarettes in a godown and supplying them through his outlet.

Police raided his shop in Omkar Nagar, Tri Nagar, and apprehended him. On his disclosure, the police searched a godown on the first floor of a house in Lal Mandir Wali Gali, Omkar Nagar, and recovered 484 prohibited e-cigarettes along with 1,02,800 conventional cigarettes of different brands, police said.

Follow-up investigations, based on his disclosures and other intelligence inputs, led to the apprehension of nine more people, taking the total number of those held to 10. The total recovery of e-cigarettes subsequently rose to 551, they said.

The accused have been identified as Sumit Aggarwal alias Micky (37), Salim alias Ram Yadav (49), Sabi Kumar (33), Mani Lal Chaurasia (55), Lal Ji (47), Pawan Chaurasiya (46), Gulab Chand Chaurasia (49), Shubham (28), Ravi (31) and Vivek (30).

According to investigators, the accused were operating through a three-tier network comprising wholesalers, distributors and retailers. The seven pan-shop owners allegedly procured consignments of 30-50 e-cigarettes at a time, primarily from Sumit, at rates ranging between Rs 200 and Rs 300 per piece.

The investigation revealed that the distributors sourced the prohibited products from multiple suppliers and supplied them to retailers in different parts of Delhi. The consignments were allegedly delivered through courier services and delivery personnel, while payments were predominantly made in cash to conceal the financial trail, police said.

During interrogation, Salim allegedly disclosed that he had been involved in the trade for seven to eight years and that a pan-shop owner in Rohini procured bulk consignments of 200-400 e-cigarettes through Nepal.

He also allegedly supplied the products to Sumit and other distributors in Wazirpur and Kohat Enclave. Investigators are probing the possible Nepal connection and the involvement of suppliers in Jaipur, they said.

Sabi Kumar allegedly sourced the products from Salim, Sumit and a supplier in Jaipur and further distributed them to buyers, including those outside Delhi, through courier services.

The investigation also revealed that the products were being sold through shops in areas such as Mukherjee Nagar, Shalimar Bagh, Pitampura, Dwarka, Punjabi Bagh and Adarsh Nagar.

During interrogation, Sumit allegedly admitted that the products eventually reached school and college students, officials said.

Police are now attempting to trace other suppliers allegedly involved in the network, including those identified as Sonu, Sandeep, Raj Kumar, Himanshu Sachdeva, Sunil, Gaurav and Prince. The alleged interstate and cross-border supply links are also being investigated.

An FIR has been registered under sections of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019, along with relevant provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, at the Crime Branch.