The foresters of Baikunthapur forest division seized illegal Burmese teak estimated around Rs 40 lakh from Fulbari, on the outskirts of Siliguri, on Saturday afternoon and arrested two residents of Haryana in this connection.

Sources said Burmese teak is used to make costly furniture and has a huge demand in India and in West Asia. “The timber was loaded in Assam and headed to Nagpur in Maharashtra. It seems a racket is using the Siliguri corridor to send the teak to different parts of the country from the Northeast,” said a forester.

Those arrested have been identified as Samedeen and Israil, both residents of Haryana. “We need to interrogate them to gather more information about the racket,” the forester added.