Laws are meant to be broken, or so the transgressors would have you believe. Therefore, while the sale and consumption of gutkha and paan masala is prohibited in Maharashtra, that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from trying to push the products into the market through circuitous routes. In a recent raid carried out by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the help of Pune police in Guruwar Peth, gutkha worth Rs 1,70,000 was seized.

By hook or crook: Food and Drug Administration officials checking gutkha sachets bearing ‘for export’ tag. Pic/Sachin Thakare