Chandigarh, Nov. 12 -- Six shopkeepers were fined a total of Rs.5,500 during an enforcement drive conducted in Sectors 35, 36, 44 and 45 for violating provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, and the Excise Act. The joint team, comprising officials from the health, police, excise and taxation, legal metrology, and food safety and drug control departments, seized illegal and imported cigarettes for lacking the mandatory 85% pictorial health warning. Retailers and vendors also voluntarily destroyed 220 packets of loose cigarettes. During the inspections, six vendors were found selling or possessing loose cigarettes and failing to display the mandatory signage under Section 6(a) of COTPA, 2003. Some were also found selling tobacco products without proper bills. The six shopkeepers penalised were: Dev Rao, who operates Royal Confectioners, a unit of Chaurasia Pan, in Sector 35-C; Ajay Kumar Sahu, who operates a kiosk outside Scotch Club in Sector 44-D; Nankhu, who runs Nankhu Pan & Confectionery in Sector 44-D; Rajendra Kumar, who runs a kiosk opposite the police station in Sector 45-C; Akash Kumar, who operates a kiosk outside The Liquor Lounge, in Sector 36-D; and Sonia, who runs Clock Owl 24x7 Store in Sector 36-D. Dr Suman Singh, director, health and family welfare, said the permanent task force constituted by the UT administration would continue conducting such enforcement drives. The initiative aims to raise public awareness about the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), COTPA, 2003, and the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA), 2019, while highlighting the harmful effects of tobacco consumption and curbing the sale of illegal imported cigarettes....