new delhi stores selling paan and tobacco products arent cashing in on the privilege of being among the limited categories allowed to restart business two weeks ago stall owners said lack of supplies especially of betel leaves massive drop in customers and a fear of police harassment have affected business forcing many to take to the alternative of selling fruits and vegetables profiteering by suppliers is also a disincentive for them to resume operationsmahesh sharma of sharma paan bhandar in northeast delhis maujpur revealed that supply of paan ingredients like betel leaves tobacco and guthka was uncertain delhi gets betel leaves from maharashtra west bengal bihar and madhya pradesh and these states are badly affected by the novel coronavirus he said besides supply will stabilise only when fullfledged train operations begin having suffered losses we are in no mood to take risks at the momentin lutyens delhi a paan seller disclosed due to short supply my agent is giving me a pack of cigarettes costing rs 230 at rs 350 i am forced to sell at rs 400 that is why consumers toi spoke to appeared reluctant to spend much on these small luxuries ankit gupta at lal quarter in krishna nagar east delhi said i have cut down on paan masala because what used to cost rs2325 is now rs 40 i think a fake shortage has been created to exploit buyers in moti bagh rajesh garg too complained that cigarettes were being sold at higher rates than normalmeanwhile many vendors claimed to have switched to selling vegetables till things normalised kamlesh singh who has a tobacco stall in naraina said i dont have supply issues but who will i sell to my customers have either left delhi or are too scared to come to market areastoi found one seller in rk puram wary about police action against gatherings and spitting i request people to buy and leave immediately i just want to sell my existing stock before returning to bihar he said