Siliguri, 21st February: Forest workers of the Sarugara range of Baikunthapur forest department, based on a tip-off conducted a campaign and successfully recovered a huge cache of sal wood before it could be smuggled elsewhere. A person, identified as Shekhar Saha, has also been arrested in this regard.
According to the Sarugara range, the illegal timber was being taken from Sukna to Bihar in a vehicle. However, the forest workers nabbed the smuggler as soon as the vehicle reached Matigara Balasan Bridge. 200 CFT wood was recovered from the vehicle and the driver was also arrested. The estimated value of the recovered wood is said to be around 5 lakh rupees.
As per the report, the owner of the vehicle, Abhijeet Kanjilal, has past records of smuggling wood. The forest department has initiated an investigation into the entire incident.