Yogesh K Porwar
In a special drive launched by the police in the wake of Anti-Tobacco day,the city police launched a special drive for three days From May 31 and booked as many as 11,507 cases against the shops and commercial establishments involved in sale and consumption of Tobacco products .
The police have slapped cases and collected a fine of Rs.21.1 lakh from the violators while the drive continue to check the violations.
City police commissioner,B.Dayananda said that the city police continue surprise checks to book cases under The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act,(COTPA) and Karnataka Poison Act.
The violators found consuming tobacco and related products in public places will be fined with Rs.1,000 along with the shop owners and owners of commercial establishments .
As many as 5667 police personnel along with 6448 student police marshals and representatives of private firms and NGOs have been roped in to create awareness about the ill effects of smoking.
As many as 60,000 placards and banners have been used to create awareness to spread the message “tobacco is gateway to drugs “and consumption of tobacco products leads to cancer.
The shop keepers have been informed to avail special license to sell tobacco products from authorities concerned along with the trade license,Any violations will be dealt with seriously,Mr.Dayananda,warned.
