Chamba: Maple wood smuggling racket busted, 15 nabbed

Tribune News Service

Chamba, March 10

The Forest Department has busted an inter-state racket involved in the smuggling of maple tree wood with links to Nepal and Tibet. An extensive operation was launched on February 26 and 15 persons, mostly Nepalese, engaged in the illegal trade of maple tree wood were arrested over a fortnight. Several locals are under investigation. Nine of the 15 persons were arrested in Chamba.

Wood transported illegally from HP, J&K, Uttarakhand

• The suspects were smuggling maple wood from Himachal, Jammu-Kashmir and Uttarakhand. Maple tree knots have a significant commercial value, especially in regions where its wood sells at high prices for its quality and aesthetic appeal
• The knots or burls found on maple trees are in high demand from woodworkers and craftsmen for their unique and intricate grain patterns, which are used in making high-end furniture, decorative items and wood crafts
• Maple trees also have religious significance and Buddhist monks use bowls made of their wood. Monks eat and accept food offerings in these bowls

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Kritagya Kumar, while addressing mediapersons here today, said that a department team arrested six more people, all of them Nepalese, from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. So far, 15 people, including 14 Nepalese, had been arrested for maple wood smuggling.

He said that the racket was exposed on February 26 when forest official arrested three people with 160 maple knots and a power chainsaw. Later, more members of the gang were arrested from a hotel in Sultanpur locality of Chamba town. During interrogation, they revealed that they had been transporting illegally-cut maple knots to Saharanpur. The knots were being used to make bowls, which are used in Buddhist monasteries due to the religious significance of maple wood.

“On March 8, an 18-member team of the Chamba forest division assisted by the Saharanpur police conducted raids at three places of a contractor and seized 1,330 maple bowls, waste maple wood, besides chainsaws, wood cutting and carving tools and cellphones,” he said. Besides, the raiding teams also recovered Rs 7 lakh and some foreign currency, including Chinese Yuan and Japanese Yen. The matter was being investigated, he added.

Kumar said that after woodwork in Saharanpur, these bowls were smuggled to Nepal where polish and metalwork was done and later supplied in the market. The DFO added that more arrests were expected in the case as the department was investigating some local people for their involvement in the racket.

He said that the racketeers were smuggling maple wood from Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. Maple tree knots have a significant commercial value, especially in regions where its wood sells at high prices for its quality and aesthetic appeal.

The knots or burls found on maple trees are in high demand from woodworkers and craftsmen for their unique and intricate grain patterns, which are used in making high-end furniture, decorative items and wood crafts. Maple trees also have religious significance and Buddhist monks use bowls made of their wood. Monks eat and accept food offerings in these bowls.

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