Bhubaneswar: Excise sleuths on Wednesday seized 82 grams of brown sugar worth over Rs 8 lakh from Haladi Padia slum, barely a few metres from Laxmisagar police station, and nabbed a woman peddler.

She had designated a room in her home for addicts to consume the contraband.

Inspector of excise intelligence and enforcement bureau, Cuttack, Amarendra Kumar Jena said they had been trying to nab Firoza Biwi, 42, the peddler, for a few months. "She travelled in trains and buses with her three kids and procured the contraband from Bengal and Balasore. However, today (Wednesday) we managed to nab her red-handed."

A search of her home revealed a room for consuming the contraband. "We found match boxes and aluminium foils and she confessed to entertaining addicts in the room to fetch higher profit. She charged Rs 100 for the room," said an excise sleuth.

The slum has acquired a reputation for being a haven for brown sugar peddlers for years. Joint teams of excise sleuths and the police arrested more than 30 peddlers from the slum last year and seized around 400 grams of brown sugar. Sources said more than 50 peddlers conduct their business from the slum.

An excise sleuth said Balasore and its adjoining areas were the root of the racket. "The contraband is smuggled in to Odisha Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bengal," said the sleuth.

Slum-dwellers, however, blamed the police for the burgeoning peddling racket. "The slum is located a few meters from the nearest police station, but the sale of brown sugar is rampant here. Peddling has given it a bad reputation," said a slum resident.