Thane: Two tonnes of smuggled Khair wood stocked in farmhouse seized, one booked

Representational Image

The forest department and police in Maharashtra's Thane district conducted a raid at a farmhouse and seized two tonnes of smuggled logs of Khair wood worth around Rs 1.50 lakh, an official told news agency PTI on Friday.

The raid was conducted in Padgha on Wednesday, he said.

Khair wood is used for extraction of 'kattha', which is one of the essential ingredients of making paan, an after-food mouth freshener. The wood and bark of this tree are also used for medicinal purposes.

"Acting on a tip-off, forest officials and a team of police raided the farmhouse, where the smuggled Khair wood was found stocked. A total of two tonnes of wood worth Rs 1.50 lakh was seized," the police official told PTI.

An offence against the owner of the farmhouse, identified as Sahil Chiklekar, was registered under various sections of the Indian Forest Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he said.

Range Forest Officer Shaikesh Deore told PTI investigation into the case is being conducted.

Meanwhile, police have registered a case against 34 persons, including 22 women waiters, after conducting a raid at a bar in Bhiwandi tehsil of Maharashtra's Thane district, where they found the accused allegedly indulging in obscene acts, an official told PTI on Thursday.

The operation was conducted in Rahnal village on Wednesday night, he said.

"After receiving a complaint against the bar, a police team raided it around 9.45 pm on Wednesday and found the accused indulging in obscene acts," the police official told PTI.

A case was registered against nine customers, 22 women waiters, the owner and two managers of the bar, he said.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 34 (common intention), the official told PTI.

Nobody has been arrested in this connection and a probe is on, the police said.

In another incident, police have arrested a 38-year-old man and seized drugs worth Rs 4.55 lakh from his possession in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official told PTI on Thursday.

Officials of the crime unit apprehended Aslam Abdulkadir Sama, hailing from Bhuj in Gujarat, at Ranjnoli naka in Bhiwandi area here on Wednesday, the official from Kongaon police station told PTI.

The police seized 65.78 gm of mephedrone, a banned synthetic stimulant, worth Rs 4.55 lakh from his possession, he said.

The accused was booked under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the official told PTI.

The man was questioned, but the source of the contraband and to whom he wanted to sell it was yet to be ascertained, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)