Three coal-laden trucks seized at Digboi

Our Correspondent

DIGBOI: “Had I ignored the three vehicles loaded with coal consignment late evening on Wednesday during the routine check-up by the already engaged task force in front of Digboi Club, the subsequent seizure of the vehicles would not have been possible,” said Nitumoni Saikia, the executive member of the Tinsukia district unit of International Human Rights Council.

Saikia was narrating the entire episode of how the three vehicles transporting coal consignment from Ledu -Margherita belt were held by the task force at Digboi on Wednesday evening. He was an eye-witness during the proceedings who demanded the department officials take stringent action.

“Once the anomalies in the documentation, including the GST bill, were detected, I insisted upon the department concerned to initiate legal measures to this effect without allowing the vehicles to move further,” said Saikia, adding, “Accordingly the investigation started after bringing the loaded vehicles under the legal fold.”

Three trucks along with the consignment were accordingly held by the team and handed over to Digboi Police for safe custody and further investigation. Confirming the seizure of the trucks and coal consignment, Indrani Borgohain, the Ranger of Digboi who was a member of the task force, said, “There were obvious anomalies in the billing address which are being looked into.” A taskforce is a government agency comprising the members of various departments, including the police, forest, pollution board, and taxation, constituted by the State Government recently to crack down upon the various forms of illegalities by means of conducting routine checking.

Atikur Rahman, the in-charge DFO of Digboi who heads the Task Force in Digboi division, said that three vehicles were held by the team during the routine check-up on Wednesday in Digboi. “Upon suspicion, the departments concerned of the task force have taken up the matter for further investigation within the respective jurisdiction,” he said. The seized vehicles were kept under the custody of Digboi Forest Range within its office premises.

Besides coal, other commodities, including forest products like minor minerals and sawn timber, are being transported illegally on NH-38 through Jagun -Margherita-Digboi. Cattle and oil smuggling along the said road have almost been a regular phenomenon that hardly draws action from the departments concerned.

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