Police seize bribe money in rare wood smuggling case

SHIMLA - Police have recovered the graft money that an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officer in Himachal Pradesh allegedly received to help the smuggling of banned red sanders wood to China from here, an official said Tuesday.

Two ITBP officials - Deputy Commandant Sukhdev Singh Rana and Inspector Manmohan Singh - had been arrested earlier this month for having issued permits to the accused to carry the wood closer to the India-China border in Lahaul and Spiti district.

“We have recovered cash amounting to Rs.689,450 from a pit near Sukhdev’s house at Sumdoh (close to the China border) on a tip-off by his subordinates,” Superintendent of Police S.R. Rana told IANS.

He said the cash was allegedly received by Sukhdev in lieu of favours extended to the smugglers.

“Sukhdev said during investigations that he had destroyed the cash offered to him by the smugglers after he came to know that police were looking for him in the case,” the police official said.

ITBP authorities have already suspended both Sukhdev and Manmohan Singh.

Two trucks transporting 12 tonnes of red sanders wood were seized at Kaurik, three kilometres from the international border, on the night of Aug 23. The truck drivers, Vijay Kumar and Raju, were arrested.

Both the drivers had in possession valid permits issued by the ITBP at Sumdoh to move close to the border.

A senior police official investigating the case said the rare wood reached Kaza town, the headquarters of Spiti, sometime in May and the stocks were illegally kept in some houses.

Himachal Pradesh shares a porous border with China and the police say smuggling of rare species of fauna and Chinese goods like blankets and thermos flasks across the border is quite frequent.

Red sanders wood is a prohibited item of export and listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) list.

Red sanders wood is used to manufacture furniture, musical instruments and toys and natural dyes, and is in great demand in Singapore and Hong Kong. It is mostly found in the forests of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and officially auctioned.