Siliguri: The State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) department busted a racket of illegal timber smuggling. A person was arrested with a huge quantity of illegal timber by the officials of the department.
The accused has been identified as Rahul Khan, a resident of Rajasthan.
On Wednesday night, the SGST officers conducted a special operation at the Panikouri toll plaza near Fulbari Canal Road. A container with a Uttar Pradesh bearing number was parked there. At that time, the driver of the vehicle told the SGST officials that there were tea leaves in the container. The truck driver also showed the bill for the tea leaves. However, the officials brought the container to the SGST office at Paribahan Nagar in Matigara and searched.
660 CFT Burma teak wood worth around Rs. 15 lakhs were recovered from the container.
Bishnu Bapari, Range Officer of Sharugara range said, “They were trying to smuggle the timber to Maharashtra from Guwahati. The driver tried to mislead the officials. There were no tea leaves in the vehicle. An investigation has been initiated.” The arrested person was sent to the Jalpaiguri court on Thursday.