Officials arrest Kendu leave smuggler in Orissa

The forest officials in Orissa have arrested a smuggler at Redhakhol on Wednesday and seized huge quantity of Kendu leaves from him while he was trying to smuggle it to Kolkata in a truck loaded with television sets.

Forest officials, with the help of local police, raided the truck and hauled the leaves weighing more than 40 quintals. The officials arrested the smuggler Md Azgar of Sambalpur, and truck driver Dhananjay Thakur of West Bengal and sent them to judicial custody.

The Forest sources said that a Mumbai-based carrier was going towards Kolkata with Akai brand TV sets, the truck driver diverted its route at Sambalpur and took the vehicle towards Jujumora jungle on Sambalpur-Cuttack highway. After loading the Kendu leaves, the truck went towards its destination through Cuttack route.

“We got the information and chased the truck. We obstructed the truck at Redhakhol and found Kendu leaves inside the truck along with the TV sets. We seized the Kendu leaves and vehicle and forwarded both to the judicial custody,” senior official of forest department Tankadhar Behera said.

Though we do not have concrete evidence, officials said, we suspect the truck driver was associated with smuggles and was regularly using his carrier in smuggling Kendu leaves while going towards Kolkata. “We arrested both the accused persons and forwarded them to the judicial custody,” the forest official of Redhakhol, Tankadhar Behera said. 

It may be mentioned here that the smuggling Kendu-leaves, also known as green-diamond, has become rampant in Sambalpur district as it is grown affluently in Sambalpur jungle. Although a separate department in the name of Kendu leaves is functioning under state forest ministry, it hardly checks the smuggling of the Kendu leaves. Smugglers have been adopting numerous methods to make their nefarious trade flourished in the district.

Sources said, smugglers collect Kendu leaves from the villagers at a very low price and they earn a handsome amount when they take it to Kolkata where the price is 10 to 15 times more than original price. “Demand of Kendu leaves is high in West Bangle, so smugglers do not refrain from the trade despite of regular raids,” Behera said.  On the other hand he refused the allegation against several police and forest officials who are indirectly associated with the smugglers.