M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan 27: Around 16 tonnes of khair wood was seized on the night of January 26 in Palamu.
Giving this information, SP Palamu Chandan Kuamar Sinha said the khair wood was being loaded surreptitiously in the dead of night at Singra village. ASP K Vijay Shankar and in charge of sadar police station and town outpost 3 raided the site and seized the truck and its consignment of 16 tonnes of khair wood.
One Panna Singh has been arrested and jailed today while three others fled from the site.
The three who escaped are two Hajis and one village doctor Shukla.
“We are yet to find out as to where this consignment of khair wood was to be offloaded,” said the SP.
Sources said there is a well knit network of khair wood smuggling in Palamu.
Khair wood smuggling rose to its peak from mid 80s to 90s when India saw the mushrooming of the paan masala factories of various brands.
Khair wood is made into Katha which is quite costly fetching Rs. 300 to 400 a kilo in the markets of Uttar Pradesh.
The SP said the arrested man Panna formatted his cell phone to hide all his cellular connectivity.
