Maharashtra Sunday started cracking the whip on the sale and manufacture of gutka in the state.

The crackdown follows the state government's decision to ban chewing tobacco, also known as gutka, since it contains three to five percent magnesium carbonate which is known to be a cancer-causing chemical.

Licenses of all the gutka manufacturers were cancelled with effect from Saturday.

On Sunday, police teams were dispatched to seal gutka factories. Action was also taken against street vendors continuing to sell chewing tobacco sachets.

In 2002, the Maharashtra government had banned the manufacture and sale of gutka in the state because of the danger it posed to public health.

However, the manufacturers challenged the ban in the Supreme Court and won. The apex court ruled that only the central government had the right to ban gutka that is known to cause oral, food pipe and intestinal cancer.