The uproar over a new tobacco advertisement starring Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Akshay Kumar is far from over. Following Akshay Kumar's formal apology and Ajay Devgn's defense of his "personal choice" of featuring in a tobacco company's ad, an IAS officer from West Bengal has slammed actors such as SRK, Ajay, and Amitabh Bachchan.

IAS officer Awanish Sharan took to his Twitter handle and shared a picture of one of the pillars of Kolkata's popular Howrah Bridge. He wrote in his tweet,

"Kolkata Port Trust has said saliva laced with gutkha is corroding the iconic 70-year-old bridge. The Howrah Bridge is under attack from gutkha-chewers."

He also tagged Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, and Shah Rukh Kahn in the thread of his tweets. According to a notice issued by West Bengal's health department, the selling of gutkha or paan masala (both tobacco products) is strictly forbidden there.

https://twitter.com/AwanishSharan/status/1517149827393814528

The notice, dated October 26, 2021, and signed by Tapan K Rudra, West Bengal's commissioner of food safety, stated,"As per regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations 2011 made by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, in the exercise of powers conferred by clause (i) of sub-section (2) of section 92 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (Central Act 34 of 2006) read with section 26 thereof, prohibits the sale of articles of food in which tobacco and/or nicotine are used as ingredients, as they may be injurious to health."