JONAI, Aug 1 - Forest officials of Jonai under Dhemaji Forest division seized a timber-laden truck at Jonai on Sunday morning, which was illegally transporting goods along National Highway 15 here. The truck driver escaped during the raid and nobody has claimed the properties so far.
Deputy Ranger of Jonai, Hiren Medok informed that, the foresters following a tip-off made an ambush to nab the sawn timber-laden truck early in the morning at Ruksin Gate. They chased the truck in the dark and seized it in an abandoned state near a timber trader�s residence near Ruksin. The foresters feel that the sawn timber were supplied from bordering Arunachal Pradesh and was being transported without valid documents.
The timber-laden truck without number plate is at present at the Jonai Forest Range office premises for legal proceedings. The Forest officials have requested the District Transport Officer, Dhemaji to trace the owner of the truck used for carrying the illegal timber.
The value of the seized sawn timber is estimated to be around Rs 60,000.
Fingers have been pointed towards a local timber trader of Jonai, who was earlier caught several times for illegal timber supply, but no one has been charged yet in this regard.
Meanwhile, Forest officials here have submitted a report to the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) at Dhemaji about the seizure and requested him for necessary order.
The Dhemaji DFO (Territorial) was not available for comment or further officials input in this regard.
Earlier too, the foresters here seized huge quantities of timber illegally supplied from Arunachal Pradesh through Dhemaji in Assam and booked a number of persons involved in illegal timber trade.
