Two held for illegally supplying banned e-cigarettes to college students

HYDERABAD: The Madhapur special operation team (SOT) arrested two students — Achuta Goutham Rakesh, 23, and Baratam Radha Madhav, 19, — for illegally supplying banned e-cigarettes to college students.

The seized cigarettes were valued at Rs3 lakh. Police said the duo confessed to ordering the e-cigarettes via courier from Kolkata and Mumbai.

“The accused were selling the e-cigarettes to students of six popular colleges and to some software employees for the past three months,” a police statement said.

Police said they booked cases and identified more than five individuals for their involvement in the sale of the prohibited e-cigarettes. While two have been taken into custody, the rest are absconding.

The accused were produced before the court on Thursday.

Shiv Sena leader wants Hyderabad renamed as Bhagyanagar

HYDERABAD: Shiv Sena-Telangana president S. Shivaji pointed out that the first words in Article 1 of the Constitution were “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States....” In line with this, Shivaji demanded that the state government change the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar. He also demanded that the government consider changing the name of Secunderabad to Ujjaini Mahankali, Nizamabad to Indur, Mahbubnagar to Palamuru, and Karimanagar to Karinagar.

Two children drown in a pit in Nizamabad district

NIZAMABAD: Two children drowned in a pit at Ifhtarpet village in Balkonda mandal of Nizamabad district on Thursday, according to reports reaching here. The incident occurred while they were playing near their houses. The victims were identified as Nasthik, 7, and Charan, 5. After they went missing for some time, their parents began looking for them and found their bodies in a water-logged pit near their house.

Special police raid units of bio-stimulant products

HYDERABAD: The LB Nagar special operation team along with agricultural officer, Abdullapurmet, on Thursday raided a unit in Pedda Amberpet in Hayathnagar and seized illegally manufactured bio-stimulant products worth Rs10 lakh. Police took unit owner Neerudu Uttam Kumar, 42, into custody. The seizure covered fake biostimulants in the names of well-known companies and equipment to manufacture them.