A night super bus on the way from Silchar to Guwahati was stopped yesterday night in Jaintia Hills for carrying betel nuts.
The bus with registration number AS 01NC 0243 was detained by members of Jaintia Students’ Movement (JSM) Western Region at Pasyih toll gate following inputs that it was transporting betel nuts.
The bus was carrying only nine passengers. During a search, 45 bags of betel nuts were recovered from the bus.
During questioning by JSM members, the bus driver revealed that he used to pay a monthly bribe to all checkpoints along the highway to ensure that no checking was done on his bus.
Later, JSM members handed over the bus and the betel nuts to the Phra Mer Traffic Police Cell.
“We are surprised that this bus carrying betel nuts was given free movement even in this period of lockdown whereas our farmers were not allowed by police to transport their agricultural produce to markets,” the JSM said today.
