Surat’s Forest Department seized a large quantity of illegally harvested timber from Khair trees. Without proper permits, a truck loaded with the timber was intercepted by the police.

The roots of this racket reached Madhya Pradesh from where 2,055 metric tons of Khair wood valued at ₹5.13 crore was also seized near Alirajpur.

Modus operandi

On June 16th, officials from the Surat Forest Department intercepted a truck loaded with logs. Upon questioning, the truck driver revealed that the logs were being transported from Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh. 

These trees were transported to Alirajpur in MP via trucks from different locations in the forests.

Subsequently, Forest Department officials raided a depot in Alirajpur where they seized 2,055 metric tons of logs valued at ₹5.13 crore in the market. The Forest Department initiated an investigation into the accused involved in the theft of logs of Khair tree and the depot manager — Aarif Ali Makrani.

For the past four years, forests in districts including Surat, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad, Narmada, Dahod, and Bharuch in Gujarat have been grappling with the illegal chopping of Khair trees. 

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