The Garo Students’ Union – Western Zone (South) on October 14 apprehended an illegal pickup truck loaded with illegal timber near the village of Zikzak.
The seized goods and truck were handed over to the Forest Department through the South West Garo Hills police.
According to the NGO, the vehicle, with at least 17 illegal timber logs, was caught early that morning.
Allegedly, the same vehicle had been making regular rounds of illegal timber smuggling and had evaded the NGOs for a long time. This time, however, things finally turned against the smuggling gang.
“When our team from the Zikzak unit stopped the vehicle, the driver and helper of the vehicle fled from the spot. As per the people of the area, this vehicle has been involved in multiple cases of timber smuggling along the same route. The owner or the driver, however, could not be traced,” said president of the GSU unit, Salman Sangma.
The NGO on October 15 handed over the vehicle as well as 17 logs of sal and teak wood to the Zikzak police outpost to be handed over to the Forest Department.
The GSU has asked the department to take strict action against those involved in the illegal timber trade.
