New Delhi, Jun 27 (IANS): Three people were arrested for being involved in a racket smuggling imported cigarettes, an official said on Monday. The three accused, identified as Md Danish (39), Shoaib Riyaz (27) and Rajesh Kumar (50) were illegally bringing the imported cigarettes to India from Cambodia.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (central district), Shweta Chauhan, said information was received on June 26 that some persons involved in the smuggling of imported cigarettes are present in the IP Estate police station area having possession of cartons of smuggled cigarettes.

Acting on the tip-off, the team of Special Staff conducted a raid and apprehended the three accused.

During sustained interrogation, the accused persons revealed that they smuggled cigarettes via Cambodia. Earlier, they used to smuggle cigarettes via Dubai but due to heavy restrictions on the route, they changed the route to via Cambodia to bring cigarettes to India.

A total of 16,190 packets of illegal cigarettes and 570 packets of imported cigars worth Rs. 30 lakh were recovered from their possession.

Further investigation is being made to ascertain the magnitude of the offence and identification of other accused persons involved in the racket, the official added.