Phansidewa, 22nd August: Five smugglers were arrested for illegal smuggling timber by the Ghoshpukur Forest Department. Based on the tip-off, the forest personnel seized a lorry at Ghoshpukur in Phansidewa that carried illegal teak wood hidden under sacks of cement and rice husk. During the search, teak wood worth about Rs 1.5 crore was recovered from the lorry. The driver and his helper have been arrested in the incident.
On questioning the two, they revealed three more people’s names who were later arrested from a luxury car. According to forest department sources, the consignment was being smuggled from Assam to Nagpur. Two of the accused are from Haryana and the rest are from Assam. Today all the accused were produced in the Siliguri Court.