Burmese teak estimated at around Rs 70 lakh was seized by foresters of Baikunthapur forest division from near Siliguri town on Monday. Three persons have been arrested in this connection.

Sources said the foresters intercepted a container truck and another car — bearing a “police” sticker — that accompanied the truck at Sariam, a locality under Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri on NH27 around 3.30am.

“Our men intercepted both the vehicles and took them to the forest beat office in Mantadari. As the container was searched, teak logs were found in it,” said a forest officer.

“The three persons in the vehicles have been arrested after they failed to produce documents to prove that the timber was being transported in a legal manner. The timber was loaded somewhere in Mizoram and they were smuggling it to Calcutta. We have seized the timber,” the forester added.

The arrested trio have been identified as Swapan Thakur of Cooch Behar, Md Saddam Hussain of Assam, and Nandveer Singh of Uttar Pradesh.

“Thakur and Hussain were in the car. They were escorting the container from Baxirhat, located on the Bengal-Assam border. They had put the sticker to avoid checking,” the forest officer said.