The Assam forest department seized four unclaimed coal-laden trucks on Monday morning at Hatigarh village on Chaygaon-Ukium Road in Kamrup district.

“Smugglers are still transporting coal from neighbouring Meghalaya in defiance of the Supreme Court order,” a source said.

The divisional forest officer of Kamrup West, Ranjan Goswami, received an input about illegal coal smuggling through Ukium Road and ordered immediate action. On December 22 midnight, a group of Bamunigaon forest and protection range staff launched an operation in the area.

On Monday morning, the team found four mini trucks loaded with coal and brought the vehicles to Bamunigaon forest office, which is also the divisional forest office of Kamrup west division.

A notice issued by the chief conservator of forest vide letter dated November 16, 2019, where he instructed all divisional forest officers to inform in writing about illegal transportation of coal, supari (betel nut), liquor and livestock offences detected in the concerned divisional forest area to the head of the forest department and the deputy commissioner of the district concerned within 24 hours.

“But every night smugglers are dodging police and forest personnel and transporting coal from Shallang and other places of Meghalaya and supplying it to other states and also to brick kilns, factories and hotels in Assam,” the source added.