Mahasamund, Oct 16 (PTI) Unearthing a smuggling network spanning four states, Chhattisgarh police have seized 15 tonnes of illegal ‘khair’ wood from a warehouse in Haryana and arrested a 67-year-old trader in Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Friday.
With the latest recovery, the total quantity of illicit wood confiscated in the case, registered at Pithora police station in Mahasamund district, has reached 70 tonnes, following raids conducted across Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, they said.
According to Mahasamund police, the case was registered on July 9 following a complaint by a forest range officer in Pithora regarding the alleged forgery and fraudulent use of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to illegally transport 23,350 kg of ‘khair’ wood (Acacia catechu).
The accused were booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Arms Act, and the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
‘Khair’ wood, found in the Terai forests of Uttar Pradesh bordering Uttarakhand, is used to produce ‘kattha’, a key ingredient in pan masala and gutka. Owing to its high commercial value, it is frequently targeted by forest mafias for illegal felling and smuggling to other states.
On October 12, a police team raided a warehouse operated by Shri Balaji Trading — a firm owned by accused Manish Agrawal — in Haryana’s Gurugram district, recovering 15 tonnes of wood, and arrested Satpal Singh (67), proprietor of Shiv Traders, in Himachal Pradesh’s Kala-Amb, officials said.
Additionally, police recovered Rs 1.7 crore in cash during raids in Himachal Pradesh linked to individuals involved in disposing of the wood. Earlier, on September 7, investigators had seized Rs 81 lakh in cash from Agrawal’s residence in Chhattisgarh’s Mudpar village.
According to officials, Singh conspired with other accused, including Akhilesh Singhal, Paritosh Mishra, Manish Agrawal, and Sanjay Chhabaria, to execute the fraudulent transactions.
The syndicate allegedly procured invoices for large quantities of timber from shell firms without any physical supply. They also forged Forest Department transit passes and misused Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) codes to make the transactions appear genuine, police said.
An examination of financial transactions revealed payments worth crores of rupees through dozens of bank transfers over the past three years, allegedly to legitimise the fraudulent invoices, they said.
Singh was produced before a court in Nahan, Himachal Pradesh, which granted transit remand, and he was subsequently brought to Mahasamund.
Police have also initiated proceedings under Section 107 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to attach the seized cash as proceeds of crime.
Two other accused — Paritosh Mishra, proprietor of Piyush Enterprises in Odisha’s Bolangir, and Akhilesh Singhal, proprietor of Singhal Enterprises in Sambalpur — were arrested on September 14, officials said, adding that further investigation is underway. PTI COR ARU
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