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Officials made the bust near Saphale forest after a tip-off about Catechu trees being felled
Forest officials with the three accused who were chased through the forest and apprehended
Little over a year after the forest department authorities had seized Khair wood (Catechu trees) on the Mumbai Ahmedabad highway near Charoti—110 kms north of Mumbai—another vehicle transporting Khair wood has been seized. The officials are investigating whether a gang is involved in the spate of such felling taking place. The khair wood is in high demand as it is used to produce ‘Kattha’, an essential ingredient in pan and gutkha.
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The bust came after Range Forest Officer (RFO) Rita Vaidya from Mandvi Range of the Forest Department received a tip-off from her informers on March 11 that illegal felling and transportation of Khair wood will soon be underway. “We got a tip from the informers that some people will be cutting and transporting Khair wood and based on the information, we planned a strategy and deployed a team on the road between Penand village and Nangamodi village near Saphale,” said Vaidya The team of the forest department was deployed at strategic location from 8.30 pm on March 11.
“On March 12 at around 4.50 am , our team spotted a blue tempo carrying wood. There was a car patrolling the area to alert the tempo drivers if needed. Our team tailed both the vehicles and four accused were caught and taken into custody after a chase ensued. We have seized over 1,800 kgs of Khair wood from the tempo. A case has been registered under various sections of Indian Forest Act and the investigation is in progress to know if there is a larger gang involved. The arrested accused are already wanted in Shahapur and Dahanu forest division,” said another forest department official.
Three accused are in forest custody, while one is in magisterial custody. The Khair wood was cut from Saphale forest range and was going to be transported to Padgha. A month ago, the Jawahar Forest Division along with the Dahanu Forest Division had seized more than 15 tonnes of Khair wood. For over a decade, Catechu trees have been in huge demand as Khair is the main ingredient in gutka and pan masala. The Khair is transported to Haryana via road.
Cost of Kattha
A forest department official also told mid-day that the hard wood extracted from Khair wood undergoes several procedures before the kattha is made. The wood of the tree is also said to be used for manufacturing traditional medicines.
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