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Probe into khair wood smuggling racket: ED attaches 14 properties worth Rs 11.3 cr linked to suspects
Following the statements of Khan, forest officials reached the premises of the Angadia firm in Vapi and seized records of transactions allegedly made by Khan.
The Surat forest department made one more arrest – that of Abbas Khan from Vapi – and seized records of “business transactions” worth Rs 4.13 crore from an Angadia firm in Vapi on Thursday. (File Photo)
THE DIRECTORATE of Enforcement (ED), Ahmedabad, on Wednesday attached 14 immovable properties worth Rs 11.3 crore linked to the suspects in an inter-state Khair wood smuggling racket that is also being investigated by the Surat forest department.
Notably, it is for the first time that the ED has attached properties of alleged Khair wood smugglers Arifali Amjadali Khan (Madhya Pradesh) and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The Surat forest department made one more arrest – that of Abbas Khan from Vapi – and seized records of “business transactions” worth Rs 4.13 crore from an Angadia firm in Vapi on Thursday.
According to a press release, the ED officers began investigations on the basis of a first offence report registered by the range forest officer, Mandvi South Range, Surat forest Division, in the matter of illegal smuggling of the Khair wood in contravention of multiple provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Mustaq Alam Tasiya, Mohammed Tahir Ahmed Hussain, both from Godhra district in Gujarat and others were allegedly involved in illegal felling of Khair trees from the wildlife sanctuaries in the south Gujarat region – Tapi, Surat, Valsad, Navsari, and Narmada districts – without permission of the forest department authorities and were transporting the wood to different destinations using fake invoices to Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh and other destinations.
On Thursday, the Surat Forest Department arrested Abbas Khan Hafiz Khan from Vapi in Valsad district. Abbas Khan, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is involved in a smuggling syndicate spread across Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. After his name cropped up during the investigation, he fled, apparently to Uttar Pradesh. Khan returned to Vapi a few days ago and was arrested by forest department officials.
Following the statements of Khan, forest officials reached the premises of the Angadia firm in Vapi and seized records of transactions allegedly made by Khan. Khan was produced in a Surat court and remanded in the custody of the Surat forest department for three days.
Further investigation is underway, officials said.
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