Kollam (Kerala) | Nearly 700 kgs of banned tobacco products, kept for sale at a supermarket at Kadakkal in this district were seized during a midnight raid, Excise officials said on Saturday.

The contraband was found stacked in several gunny bags and stored in a shed adjacent to the supermarket, located on Kadakkal-Kummil road here.

The shop was owned by one Siyad, a native of Mukkunnam here, they said.

"The owner of the shop was involved in similar cases before also. The cases against him were registered under Chadayamangalam Excise range. This time, we have got a clear tip-off that banned products were kept at the shop," an Excise officer said.

Though the owner was reportedly near the supermarket when the raid was carried out, he managed to flee, the officer said.

The seized 700 kg tobacco products were worth around Rs 10 lakh in the market, he said adding that it was brought there to be sold in Kadakkal and Kummil areas.

Around one lakh tonnes of various banned contrabands were seized by the Chadayamangalam Excise personnel in the last one month, sources added.