10 lakh duplicate derby cigarettes seized in Morrelganj

About 10 lakh sticks of duplicate Derby-brand cigarettes and various stolen materials were recovered from a cowshed adjacent to Crown Tobacco Industries in Shankibhanga village under Morrelganj Pourashava in Bagerhat district.

The recovery was made during a police raid conducted at around 3:00 pm on Saturday, according to a delayed report received here. Md Nazrul Islam, Inspector of the Bagerhat District Detective Branch (DB) Police, disclosed the matter.

The DB police inspector said that, acting on a tip-off, police raided the cowshed and recovered around 10 lakh sticks of duplicate Derby cigarettes, a huge quantity of raw materials used for manufacturing cigarettes, and various devices allegedly used in the production process.

Som Nath Dey, owner of Green Bangla Tobacco, said that machinery and equipment worth several crore taka were stolen from his factory at Badhal Bazar in Bagerhat district in August last year. He claimed that some of the stolen machinery was recovered during the police raid.

Masud Karim Titu, a sales agent of British American Tobacco, alleged that Badrul Alam, owner of Crown Tobacco Industries, had been producing and marketing counterfeit Derby-brand cigarettes illegally for a long time. He claimed that the seized cigarettes were not genuine Derby products but counterfeit ones.

Md Mahmudur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Morrelganj Police Station, said that several months ago a large number of machines and devices used in cigarette manufacturing were stolen from Green Bangla Tobacco, owned by Som Nath Dey.

In this connection, Dey filed a case with the court, which subsequently ordered the seizure of the stolen machinery. Acting on the court’s directive, police raided a cowshed located on the premises of Badrul Alam Bhaddar’s tobacco factory.

However, no one was found at the factory during the raid, and the premises were locked.