Sanitary Napkin Smuggling Bid Foiled in Rajasthan; 1.7 lakh Napkins Seized

A police officials said that the truck carrying an estimated 1.7 lakh sanitary pads was intercepted by the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) department on way towards Haryana during a checkpoint near Sangriya. The truck driver has been arrested by the police.

Jodhpur:Authorities have foiled a bid to smuggle sanitary napkins distributed free of cost by the government by seizing a consignment of whopping 1,70,000 sanitary pads from a truck in Jodhpur district of the state on Tuesday, an official said. Police have arrested the truck driver in the case.

Basni police station officer Shafiq Khan said that on Tuesday night, the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) department intercepted the truck going to Haryana during a checkpoint near Sangriya. During subsequent search, the truck was laden with Udaan sanitary napkins distributed free of cost by the Rajasthan government, which were confiscated by the department, Khan said. A total of 1 lakh 70 thousand napkins were found from the truck as per the police officer. After being informed about the matter by the department, the police arrested the truck driver, said Khan. The identity of the arrested truck driver was not immediately known.

CGST department inspector Liladhar Jat said that the seized napkins manufactured in Pokhran were being smuggled to Balaji Industries Sector 63 of Noida where they were meant to be sold in the olpen market with new packing. Police have launched a thorough investigation into the case to get to the root of the case and identify the kingpin in the smuggling bid. Further details into the case are awaited.

The scheme to provide napkins under the 'Sanitary Napkin Distribution Udaan Scheme', was started during the Ashok Gehlot regime for the adolescent girls of the state.