STATE TIMES NEWS
KATHUA: Sleuths of Excise department stationed at Toll Post Lakhanpur thwarted yet another attempt of smuggling when it seized a full truck of willow clefts, which were being moved out of the State.
A vehicle bearing registration No.HR63-7367 reported at Toll Post Lakhanpur for assessment of the goods and as per the documents enclosed, the vehicle was shown loaded with Paint consigned by M/s ITC Limited Transport Nagar Jammu to M/s ITC Limited Amritsar vide Challan No. 050 dated 9th April 2016 with vehicle number wrongly mentioned as HP68-7867. However, when the vehicle was put to physical check by the concerned inspector, it was found fully loaded with willow clefts. The willow clefts attempted for export/smuggling forms the raw material for manufacturing cricket bats and its movement out of the State is not permissible in terms of J&K Willow (Prohibition on Export Movement Act 2000). As per the documents accompanying the vehicle, it is owned by Maya Devi, resident of Delhi Road, Gurgaon. The vehicle along with the seized willow clefts have been handed over to the Forest Protection Force of Forest department for further investigation. The staff of the Excise Department has been very active in foiling such attempts of evasion and during the year 2015-16, a total of 26,359 willow clefts were seized, as compared to 4,550 during the year 2014-15.
The operation was performed by the team of Excise Department comprising Excise & Taxation Officers G.L. Sharma, Virinder Singh Billowria, Farooq Choudhary and Vikas Anand, Inspectors Pankaj Sharma, Anil Chandan, Ishtyaq Ahmed and Arun Kumar Sub Inspectors Bhagwan Dass and Suraj Parkash and Excise Guards Devinder Singh, Shakeel Ahmad, Ajay Kumar and Mohammad Ameen.
Rajesh Sharma, Deputy Excise Commissioner has lauded the role of officers/officials engaged in nabbing the evaders/smugglers and impressed upon the staff to perform their duties with zeal and dedication.
