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| Some of the seized antlers in Gossaigaon. (Preetam B. Choudhury) |
Kokrajhar, Dec 27 : Antlers of deer, sambar and hog deer tumbled out of sacks in a sawmill 50km from here last evening.
Sandalwood worth Rs 50 lakh was also found during the raid by Assam police and the Sashastra Seema Bal, making it one of the region’s largest such hauls of wildlife and forest items in recent times.
The seizures were made at Gossaigaon’s Brahma Industries and Sawmill, owned by local businessman Loni Brahma. He is absconding. “We seized over 630 pieces of antlers and 59 pieces of red sandalwood,” said Gossaigaon sub-divisional police officer Dambarudhar Hazarika, who led the raid. The haul, sources said, indicates rampant deer poaching.
A source said it was possible that Brahma had become part of a poaching racket after a 1996 Supreme Court ban on felling trees left his sawmill idle. He may have been using its premises to hide his stock.
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