Jamshedpur: RPF team seizes 160 kgs of Kendu leaves from Ispat Express train

Jamshedpur, July 16: In a major breakthrough, a joint team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) and RPF’s crime investigation branch (CIP) seized 160 kgs of Kendu leaves from the Titlagarh-Howrah Ispat Express.

The leaves were packed in three separate coaches and the consignment was in 15 bundles.  The police said that it was suspected to be smuggled to Bangladesh. Acting on a tip-off, the team conducted a raid. During the operation, 15 bundles of Kendu leaves were recovered from the coach Nos D1, D2 and D3.

The RPF inspector, Tatanagar, Sanjay Kumar Tiwari said that the CIP inspector, Chakradharpur had given an intelligence input that Kendu leaves were being carried in trains to Bengal and later smuggled to Bangladesh.

“ As we received the information,  the CIP inspector Rambabu Singh led a team to Tatan and carried out a search operation of the Ispat Express at Tatanagar, taking the help of the RPF personnel here. ” said Tiwari while addressing a press conference here today.

The RPF inspector said though unauthorised, Kendu leaves’ bundles were seized but no one could be nabbed. He said the one who was smuggling the consignment must be on the train but did not appear before the raiding teams.

Tiwari said as the matter of Kendu leaves happens to be a concern of the forest department, they are going to hand over the seized consignment to the department concerned.

Kendu leaf is used for manufacturing ‘bidi’ which is consumed largely in Bangladesh. “ Beedi  smokers are also found in Bengal and other states in the country, but in Bangladesh the number of Beedi  smokers is huge. Kendu leaves being an integrated part of beedi  making, several traders tend to smuggle this item from Odisha and also Jharkhand,” the RPF inspector said.

During the course of investigation into the incident, it came to the fore that the accused used to smuggle kendu leaves from different parts of Odisha to West Bengal by road and rail. They used to sell the leaves to unlicensed beedi manufacturers mostly in West Bengal.

Kendu leaf is called the green gold of Odisha. It is a nationalised product like bamboo and sal seed. It is one of the most important non-wood forest products in Odisha. The leaves are used to wrap beedis, a popular smoke among the locals.