Dogs’ day out: Chippiparai becomes cover for smuggling gang

CHENNAI: Diverting attention is not a quality one usually associates with the Indigenous dog breed “Chippiparai”. Interestingly, a gang used the hounds as a cover for their smuggling operation to procure gutkha from other states into the city by a load van.

When stopped at checkposts, the gang claimed that it was taking the native dog breeds to sell them in other states where there was a demand for them.

Avadi police who intercepted a load van near Nasrathpet on Thursday found the banned oral tobacco items in the van and seized about two tonnes of the banned oral tobacco products from a godown in the city outskirts and arrested three persons.

On Thursday morning, a police team from Nasrathpet flagged the pick-up truck at a checkpost, and during the vehicle inspection, the truck driver, K Lingadurai (21) of Thoothukudi gave evasive replies. On suspicion, the police checked the vehicle and found gutkha products in the load van and detained the driver.

Inquiries with Lingadurai led the police team to a godown where the rest of the gutkha products were stashed. Police arrested two others- Rajalingam and Tamizh and also found Chippiparai dogs in the premises.

Further investigations revealed that the arrested trio were also in the dog breeding business, which they used to their advantage while bringing in gutkha from Bengaluru and other places.

Police said that the arrested trio are tasked with bringing in the banned Gutkha products from other states into the city and hoarding them in the godown, from where the clients come and take them. The interactions are usually done through WhatsApp, police sources said. The trio were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. Police investigations are on to find the others who are part of the network.