3 held with illegal medicinal herbs

Nurpur, June 13

The Jawali police seized a truckload of illegal medicinal herbs that were being transported out of the state at a naka near the Kotla police chowki on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway on Thursday evening. The police, after conducting preliminary investigations, arrested three persons, including the truck driver. As per police information, the accused have been identified as Halku Ram (truck driver) of Shanang village, Surjeet Singh of Chening village and Nanak Chand of Gurahatu village in Mandi district.

The accused were coming from Loharadi near Barot and going to Punjab to sell medicinal herbs in local markets. Jawali DSP Sidharth Sharma said a theft case under Section 379 of the IPC and Sections 41 and 42 of the Indian Forest Act had been registered against the trio. He said the accused had no valid permit for procuring and transporting the herbs.

The police impounded the truck and handed over the seized medicinal herbs to the Forest Department. They produced the accused in the Jawali court this afternoon, where the accused were sent in four days’ police remand. Meanwhile, Nurpur Divisional Forest Officer Viklap said the seized herbs included kuth (saussurea costus), shingli mingli (dioscorea deltoidea), koud (picrorihiza kurroa) and brimi (taxus wallichiana). — TNS