In a three-day joint operation, a team of city cops and civic officials demolished over 320 illegal pan and beedi shops, including those located within 100 yards (approximately 100 metres) of schools and colleges. The police have registered 35 FIRs so far.Also, 1,766 people have been fined for smoking in public places under The Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003.
Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Satyanarayan Chaudhary told mid-day, "This operation will continue. We won*t let anyone run pan beedi shops illegally." On Thursday, the Gamdevi police and officials from D ward demolished the popular pan shop, Muchhad Paanwala, along with two others near Stefan Church at B D Road in South Mumbai. The action against pan beedi shops is part of the anti-NDPS drive. The police have filed 36 FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPC) Act after seizing MD, ganja and phosphate syrup. They also checked 516 habitual drug-addicts and arrested 36 for possession of drugs.