Nepalis held with precious wood variety found in Himalayas

Two Nepali nationals were held today by Uttarakhand STF after being found in possession of a rare and precious variety of wood worth lakhs of rupees in the international market.
Chitup Lama and Chewang Bahadur Tamang were arrested by Uttarakhand Special Task Force from Rishikesh today and 117 nuggets (pieces) of a rare species of wood worth over Rs 17 lakh were recovered from them, a Police department press release said here today.
Called 'Kajal' in local parlance, the wood is found only in the Himalayan forests located above 6,000 ft, it said.
Considered rich in medicinal qualities, pieces or nuggets of Kajal are used in the food and drinks of Buddhist monks, the release said, adding each nugget costs Rs 15,000 in the international market.

Preliminary interrogation of the duo revealed they had brought the nuggets from Gopeshwar in Chamoli district and were taking them to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh where they were to be hammered into shape at a factory and to be sold to Chinese, Tibetan and Nepali communities.
Both Lama and Tamang hail from Nepal's Chumla district.