Bhawanipatna: Seven people were arrested after an interstate-smuggling racket of kendu leaves was busted in Kalahandi district Friday, police said.
The gang used to smuggle kendu leaves from different parts of Odisha to West Bengal and sell them to unlicensed biri manufacturers, the police said.
Kendu leaves is one of the most important non-wood forest products of Odisha, which is its third largest producer in the country. Kalahandi district is among the major producer of the leaves in the state, according to the Odisha Forest Development Corporation.
In the early hours of August 29, the gang members allegedly came in a truck and motorcycles to a kendu leaf collection centre at a village in Madanpur Rampur block, 56 km from Bhawanipatna, an officer said.
They snatched away the phones of the labourers, segregated them into groups of males and females by showing a toy pistol and a sword, Kalahandi Superintendent of Police Sabarna Vivek M said.
The gang looted 40 bags of kendu leaves worth Rs 7.5 lakh and took it in a truck to Panskura in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district. They sold it to an unlicensed biri manufacturer for Rs 5 lakh, Vivek said.
A case was registered and the suspects were arrested after raiding several locations, mainly Sambalpur and Kalahandi. The truck used in the crime has been seized, the SP said.
Two more suspects are absconding, police sources added.
PTI