Odisha: Govt bus stashed with Gutkha sacks seized; 2 held

Bhubaneswar: A huge cache of Gutkha (a tobacco item) was seized from an OSRTC bus by Commercial Tax officials here today while the bus was on its way to Cuttack from Berhampur.

Acting on a tip-off, the Commercial Tax officials intercepted the bus that was fully packed with sacks containing Gutkha packets. The officials later asked for documents and invoice of the tobacco items. When the bus staff failed to furnish the documents, the officials seized over 30 sacks containing Gutkha packets that were being illegally transported to Cuttack to evade GST taxes.

Interestingly, there was no passenger travelling in the Government-run bus.

The driver and conductor of the bus have been detained for interrogation. An investigation is on into the incident, said an official.