Chandigarh, Oct. 22 -- Five vendors were fined a total of Rs.5,500 on Wednesday for violating the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, during a joint enforcement drive by multiple departments in Chandigarh.

Three of the vendors operate in Manimajra while the other two are in Sector 16.

The drive also led to the destruction of 255 packets of loose cigarettes worth Rs.34,500 by retailers and vendors, while the excise department seized illegal or imported cigarettes worth Rs.3,300 from the wholesale market for lacking the mandatory 85% pictorial health warning on their packaging.

The joint team comprised officials from the health and family welfare, police, excise and taxation, legal metrology, and food safety and drug...