Customs seizes banned Red Sanders wood worth over Rs 60 lakh

Customs sleuths today seized a huge quantity of banned Red Sanders wood worth over Rs 60 lakh, officials said here.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs received, a team of the Custom officials seized 110 logs of Red Sander (Pterocarpus santalinus) weighing 2409 kg from a place near Silchar-Mizoram national highway, Customs deputy commissioner I R Kharkongor said.
He said initial investigation indicates that the consignment has been transported from South India and was meant for smuggling to Myanmar.
The raid was assisted by personnel of BSF in Mizoram and the value of the seized logs is estimated at Rs 60.22 lakh in the international market, the Customs official said.

A case under the provisions of Customs Act, 1962 has been registered since Red Sander has been declared as an endangered species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and also listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), he said.