Officials seized 60 electronic cigarette machines and 700 flavours, which had a market value of Rs 7,33,430 and three mobile phones. (Representational Images)

Hyderabad: The Central Zone Task Force team conducted a raid on an establishment named Vap Essentials at Khairatabad and apprehended the sales manager for illegally marketing and selling tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and flavours.

Officials seized 60 electronic cigarette machines and 700 flavours, which had a market value of Rs 7,33,430 and three mobile phones.

The arrested accused were identified as Balakrishna, 21, a sales manager at Vap Essentials, the police said, adding that the owner of the lot, Kadire Kousthub Narayana Reddy, 25, is absconding.

Kousthub Reddy sold e-cigarette machines by employing Balakrishna and Cherukuri Aditya for sales and marketing, said DCP, Commissioner’s Task Force, P. Radhakrishna Rao.

“It was revealed that he stores and sells the e-cigarettes with flavours which contains tobacco and nicotine as ingredients. He is running this business clandestinely. As Telangana state has banned the sale, manufacture, distribution and storage of noxious tobacco, he planned to earn money by selling the banned products as it has a lot of demand. He violated the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTP),” said the official.

The Government of India Ministry of Health and Family welfare issued an advisory stating that Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) including e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, vape, e-sheesha, e-nicotine flavoured hookah and similar products are dangerous to public health and nicotine is prohibited for use as an ingredient in any food item under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on sales) regulation, 2011 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

“As such States/Union Territories are advised to prevent the initiation of ENDS by smoker/non-smokers and youth with special attention to vulnerable groups.

Eminent doctors, specialists, scientists and officers of Health and Drug departments concluded that based on available scientific evidences encouraging tobacco (Nicotine) use, is hazardous for an active as well as passive user and has an adverse impact on public health. It may also lead to cancer and other pulmonary/respiratory diseases,” added the official.