The Kandivli Traffic division police stumbled upon a consignment of gutkha hidden inside an abandoned car parked in a No Parking area in Charkop on Thursday. The smugglers' latest way of hiding gutkha in the city may have gone unnoticed had the traffic police not decided to initiate action against parked, unclaimed vehicles on the roadside. It was during one such drive in Kandivli that the cops found the gutkha stash.

According to the traffic police, while towing away an abandoned Hyundai Accent car, the traffic police officers found a large number of gunny sacks inside the car. On opening them they found various brands of pan masala and gutkha inside them — 55 packets of Goa Gutkha, 60 of Star, 72 of Shikhar, 55 of Vimal, 18 of Vimal Masal, 60 of RK Gutkha, 40 of V- 1 and 54 of Tulsi — totally worth around Rs 45K.