Koraput (Odisha), Nov 7 (PTI) An illegal factory, which used to manufacture counterfeit gutkha, was busted in Odisha’s Koraput district, and three persons were arrested in this connection, police said on Tuesday.

Acting on a tip-off, three police teams raided a building on the outskirts of the Lamtaput area on Monday evening and seized seven gutkha packaging machines, a senior officer said.

A huge number of sacks containing gutkha pouches and raw materials used in making the tobacco product were recovered from there, he said.

“We got information about the functioning of the illegal gutkha-making unit and accordingly, the raid was conducted. The arrested persons failed to provide any valid document for running the unit,” SDPO (Nandapur) Sanjaya Mahapatra said.

The unit was functioning at a rented house for the past few months and several people were involved in running the illegal business, he said.

“After preparing the gutkha, they used to pack the tobacco product in pouches named after renowned companies. They supplied such counterfeit products in and out the district, mostly in rural areas,” Mahapatra said.

One of the arrested persons is a resident of Hanru village in Sivrajpur area in Uttar Pradesh, while two others are locals, he said.

Local people said they were aware of the existence of the factory but had no information about the fake tobacco products being manufactured there. PTI COR BBM BDC