Koraput: Police on Wednesday unearthed a factory that was illegally manufacturing gutka using the brand names of known companies at Jeypore town in the district.

Acting on a tip-off, a team from Jeypore town police station carried out a raid at a building in the Dolo Mandap in the town and detained two persons. The team seized huge quantity of gutka products besides raw materials and packing machine from the house.

"We had prior information that some people are running an illegal gutka unit in the town," said inspector in charge of Jeypore town police station Piyus Ranjan Chottray.

According to the officer, the illegal gutka manufacturing unit was functioning in a rented house for more than six months.

"After preparing the gutka they packed it in the wrappers of known brands and supplied it in and outside the district and outside the state," said Chottray.The police said a tractor loaded gutka worth several lakh rupees, raw materials and two packaging machines were seized during the raid. The detained persons were identified as Deepak Sahani and Kamlesh Sahani, both residents of Bihar.

"We are interrogating the detained person and more details about the factory are awaited. Besides, we have sought commercial tax and income tax officials to find the financial aspects of the unit," the officer said.

Local residents said though they were aware of the existence of the factory, but they had no information about the fake gutka products manufactured there. "We were under the impression that the concerned unit was manufacturing and dealing in genuine products," said another resident.