KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, July 16: A joint team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) and RPF’s crime investigation branch (CIP) seized 160 kgs of Kendu leaves from the Titlgarh-Howrah Ispat Express.
Concealed in three separate coaches the consignment was in 15 bundles and was suspected to be smuggled to Bangladesh.
The RPF inspector, Tatanagar, Sanjay Kumar Tiwari said that the CIP inspector, Chakradharpur had an intelligence input that Kendu leaves were being carried in trains to Bengal and later smuggled to Bangladesh at regular intervals.
“On the basis of specific info, the CIP inspector Rambabu Singh led a team to Tatan and carried out a search operation of the Ispat Express at Tatanagar, taking the help of the RPF personnel here. During the operation, 15 bundles of Kendu leaves were recovered from the coach Nos D1, D2 and D3, ” said Tiwari while addressing a press conference here today.
The RPF inspector said though unauthorised, Kendu leaves’ bundles were seized but no one could be arrested. He said the one who was smuggling the consignment must be on the train but did not appear before the raiding teams.
Tiwari said as the matter of Kendu leaves happens to be a concern of the forest department, they are going to hand over the seized consignment to the department concerned.
Kendu leaf is used for manufacturing ‘bidi’ which is consumed largely in Bangladesh.
“Biri smokers are also found in Bengal and other states in the country, but in Bangladesh the number of Biri smokers is huge. Kendu leaves being an integrated part of biri making, several traders tend to smuggle this item from Odisha and also Jharkhand,” the RPF inspector said.
