A team of foresters of the Belakoba range under Baikunthapur forest division seized an illegal consignment of Burmese teak wood from Panikauri, located on NH27 under Jalpaiguri district on Saturday. The cost of the seized timber is around Rs 30 lakh.
“We acted on a tip-off and intercepted a truck. Initially, it appeared that the truck was loaded with coal. As the vehicle was taken to the forest range office and searched thoroughly, teak logs were found hidden under sacks of coal,” said a forester.
The truck driver and helper, both Haryana residents, were arrested.
The timber, foresters said, was loaded somewhere in Assam and was to be delivered to Calcutta.
‘Infiltrator’
Troops of 61st battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) posted at North Agra border outpost at the India-Bangla border in South Dinajpur district apprehended Karthik Chandra Barman, 55, of Naogaon district of Bangladesh on Friday while he was trying to infiltrate into India. He was later handed over to Hilli police station.
Liquor arrests
Troops of the same battalion posted in Srirampur border outpost in South Dinajpur intercepted Sanjay Mahato and Arun Mahato, residents of Srikrishnapur village under Hilli police station on Friday for allegedly trying to smuggle liquor to Bangladesh. They have been arrested.
The BSF also carried out anti-smuggling drives in different locations across the north Bengal frontier from Wednesday to Saturday and seized a number of contraband items including cattle and cough syrup bottles.
The cost of the seized items is Rs 9.13 lakh, said sources.
