Hyderabad, Feb. 11 -- Two individuals were arrested on Monday, February 10, for operating a foreign cigarette racket in Hyderabad. Cigarettes worth Rs 20.50 lakh were seized from them.

The accused were identified as Mohammed Imran, 42, a businessman and a resident of Aghapura and Mohammed Ayub, 50, a resident of Habeebnagar. The police recovered 39,500 packets of Gold Stag Cigarettes, 4,500 packets of Black Cigarettes and 1000 packets of Mond Cigarettes.

Imran is a native of Nizamabad who migrated to Hyderabad. He owns a family business, "SN Traders Pan Masala", at Aghapura, Hyderabad. However, over the past few years, the accused has been involved in the illegal business of banned cigarettes.

Imran has connections with Ramesh, a nativ...