(IN): Antlers seized from saw mill

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Antlers seized from saw mill

OUR CORRESPONDENT

 

*Kokrajhar, Dec. 25: *Security personnel seized a large quantity of antlers

of deer, sambar and hog deer from a sawmill in Gossaigaon, 50km from here,

last evening.

 

A joint team of police and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) also seized 59 pieces

of sandalwood from the same mill.

 

Following a tip-off, the team, led by Gossaigaon sub-divisional police

officer Dambarudhar Hazarika and SSB personnel, raided Brahma Industries and

Sawmill belonging to Loni Brahma, a reputed businessman of the area, before

stumbling on what is being described as one of the biggest such haul in

recent times.

 

The police are on the lookout for the mill owner, who is absconding. The

antlers were kept inside sacks, while the red sandalwood pieces, valued at

over Rs 50 lakh, were kept in the open. " We raided the place after getting

specific information and seized over 630 pieces of antlers and 59 pieces of

red sandalwood, " Hazarika said.

 

The haul has brought to light the rampant poaching of these animals under

the very nose of the authorities.

 

Sources said the sawmill, which was set up in the early eighties, was

running at a loss ever since the Supreme Court slapped a ban on felling in

1996. " Not many sawmills have much business left. While many have even

closed down over the years, owners of some of them turned to smuggling, " the

source said. He said it was possible that Brahma had become a part of a

poaching racket as his mill had become non-functional and he was using its

premises to hide wildlife and forest articles.

 

The major haul has sent shock waves among wildlife experts and forest

personnel, who believe that most of these animals were killed either at

Manas National Park or Kaziranga.

 

" The recovery of such a huge quantity of wildlife items only indicates that

an organised gang is involved in the racket. It is among the largest haul of

such materials in the region, " said Kachugaon divisional forest officer

Raghunath Boro.

 

Boro said the antlers appeared old, indicating that the killings did not

take place recently. Sources in the forest department said though killing of

deer takes place frequently in the wilds of Assam, most of these cases go

unreported since the deer population has been increasing over the years.

" Unless there is a drop in their population, nobody would really take note

of the largescale killing of these animals, " the source said.

 

On the sandalwood consignment, Boro said there was information that

sandalwood was being smuggled from South Indian states to Southeast Asian

countries via the Moreh border in Manipur.

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