From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: The state forest department on Tuesday seized a huge quantity of smuggled timber in a series of raids under West Kamrup division forest office close to the Assam-Meghalaya border.
In a wee-hour raid, a team from the Nagarbera forest range recovered sal wood logs worth around Rs 2 lakh from the Jaljali river at Nagarbera in south Kamrup.
Speaking to the media, West Kamrup divisional forest officer, Ranjan Goswami, who supervised the operation, informed that the first raid was carried out on the basis of a tip-off around 2 am.
In another operation, a team forest officials from Kukuramara and Ratanpur beat office along with a team of Assam Police intercepted a Mahindra pick-up van coming from Mejengabari near the inter-state border and seized sal wood worth Rs 1.5 lakh.
The third seizure took place at Sampupara weekly market where Bamunigaon protection range officials seized furniture made from smuggled timber. Besides, they also recovered four horse carts, carrying wood logs amounting around Rs 2 lakh at Goroimari.
No arrests have been made so far.
The state forest department has, over the past few months, upped the ante against timber smuggling activities along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
One May 22 this year, state forest officials foiled a similar bid to smuggle about 300 cubic feet of sawn timber at Goroimari near the inter-state border.
Rampant deforestation, particularly in the hills along the inter-state border, has been a concern even as timber smugglers have been reined in by the department, despite manpower constraint, from time to time.