A technology-driven crackdown has exposed an inter-state gang smuggling prized khair timber across state borders, with the Rampur forest division’s ‘Operation Khair’ recovering over 500 quintals of illegally felled wood from Punjab and arresting three people.
The operation tracked a vehicle carrying contraband wood overnight before tracing it to a stockpile in the Rajpura area of Patiala district, Punjab, where between 450 and 500 quintals of khair timber were found stored and being processed. Three vehicles alleged to have been used in the smuggling operation were also seized. A fourth suspect remains at large.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) Pranav Jain said the haul, valued at over ₹50 lakh, marks the first time such a large quantity of illegally felled khair wood transported out of Uttar Pradesh has been recovered from another state.
Officials had monitored the suspected network for several days, combining informer inputs with electronic tracking to map smuggling routes and identify both the origin and destination points of the contraband.
Khair trees, found primarily in the Terai forest belt of western Uttar Pradesh bordering Uttarakhand, are commercially valuable for producing kattha, an extract used in pan masala and gutka. The species fetches around ₹10,000 per quintal, making it a frequent target for forest mafias.
{{/usCountry}}Khair trees, found primarily in the Terai forest belt of western Uttar Pradesh bordering Uttarakhand, are commercially valuable for producing kattha, an extract used in pan masala and gutka. The species fetches around ₹10,000 per quintal, making it a frequent target for forest mafias.
{{/usCountry}}Preliminary investigations indicate the seized wood had been peeled and was intended for onward transport to Jammu after processing.
Further investigations are underway to identify additional members of the racket and their local collaborators.