Sandalwood bust stinks up border trade

The confiscated sandalwood

VISHNU NEOPANEY

For the second time in ten seasons of border trade over Nathula, Sikkim Police has confiscated a sandalwood consignment from Gangtok suspected of being readied for smuggling into Tibetan Autonomous Region over Nathula under the cover of border trade. The bust was made in the wee hours of 07 September, Monday, from Manbir Colony on Indira Byepass. As per Sadar Thana officials, the consignment was scheduled for transport to TAR later in the day via Rhenock in East Sikkim. The police raid was carried out at 5:30 a.m. and led to the seizure of 745 kgs of sandalwood in 125 logs valued at Rs. 24 lakh.
Red sandalwood is in huge demand in China and commands a high price of Rs 10 crore per tonne in China while in India, as per Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials quoted in several media reports, red sanders cost something between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 per kg. Its export is banned and movement within the country requires special permits and documents. It is unlikely that the consignment seized today had such paperwork in place. It is also suspected that Nepal and Bhutan are extensively used as conduits to smuggle red sanders from South India into China via Tibet.

Poultry consignment confiscated but situation remains unclear

GANGTOK, 01 Oct: The consignment of 294 cartons of eggs confiscated by the Sadar police on Saturday at the Lall Bazaar was supposedly to meet the demands of the public “…as there had been media reports of shortage of eggs”. This is the statement reportedly given to the police by way of explanation. A more simple way out would be to lift the ban on the import of poultry products into Sikkim. There were two utility vehicles which brought in eggs on 29 September and while one had already been unloaded, the police seized the other vehicle on grounds that unauthorized poultry import into the State was banned.
The consignment was with the police the whole day and only later released when the department produced the notification dating back to April 2010 permitting Sikkim Hatcheries and Denzong Cooperatives exclusively to import poultry products into the state. It was explained that the consignment belonged to Sikkim Hatcheries to meet the demand in Gangtok. The consignment was confiscated under section 102 of the CrPC.
The consignment was supposedly handed over to Ashok Tamang for distribution. Speaking to NOW!, Mr. Tamang clarified that he has not been accorded a ‘Special Permit’ by Sikkim Hatcheries to import eggs as initially reported and which again would be questionable.
“I am only a distributor, the eggs are not brought into Sikkim by me”, he stated. Mr. Tamang reiterates that he, along with a few others are only distributors and are selling the eggs at lower rates of Rs. 5 per piece than the Rs. 8 for the benefit of the people.
His statement that it was Sikkim Hatcheries that brought the eggs from Siliguri becomes relevant in the context of the directive of the Animal Husbandry department that poultry can be brought into Sikkim from only two designated poultry farms in Siliguri. Incidentally, this consignment was brought from the open market in Bidhan Market, Siliguri. In fact this consignment of poultry is not even from Siliguri as the cartons have the address of a poultry merchant in Velpur, Andhra Pradesh. This aspect should also be looked into by the department. The reason why only two agencies in Sikkim are permitted to bring in poultry into the state and not others is that they would purchase it from the designated farms in Siliguri. This was the logic of the department when it initially imposed the ban.
On the other hand, the very fact that such a consignment had to be brought in from Siliguri exposes the claim of self sufficiency in poultry products by the state. The daily demand for eggs for Gangtok town alone is over 200 crates [6,000 eggs] while the total produce of hatcheries in Sikkim would hardly come to 2,000 eggs.

Three detained on suspicion of smuggling antiques

GANGTOK, 14 Feb: Three persons claiming to be monks have been detained by the Melli check post police on suspicion of smuggling antiques out of the state this evening at around 7 PM.
Sources inform that the personnel at the check post grew suspicious of the trio when they produced ID cards introducing them as belonging to a monastery in South Sikkim. The ID cards looked ‘dodgy’ especially since this is not normal practice. When their luggage was checked, suspected antiques were found in their possession.
The alleged monks claimed to be heading towards Bodhgaya and they have been detained for further investigation. That, the three are monks and the objects found in their possession are antiques being smuggled outside the state will only be confirmed after further investigation, it is informed.