Cigarette smuggling emerges as a new threat in Punjab

The matter in the court and the disclosures made by the enforcement agencies have now raised fresh concerns of tobacco smuggling in a state, already ravaged by the drug racket. Chandigarh: Amid a furore over a drug-crime thriller “Udta Punjab” that rocked the state two weeks ago, the Punjab and Haryana high court, last week slapped a Rs 6.5 crore fine on a Delhi-based firm for smuggling 900 cartons of cigarettes through Ludhiana Inland Container Depot (ICD), that operates under ministry of commerce. The case raised eyeballs on two counts: