Little over a year after the forest department authorities had seized Khair wood (Catechu trees) on the Mumbai Ahmedabad highway near Charoti—110 kms north of Mumbai—another vehicle transporting Khair wood has been seized. The officials are investigating whether a gang is involved in the spate of such felling taking place. The khair wood is in high demand as it is used to produce ‘Kattha’, an essential ingredient in pan and gutkha.

The bust came after Range Forest Officer (RFO) Rita Vaidya from Mandvi Range of the Forest Department received a tip-off from her informers on March 11 that illegal felling and transportation of Khair wood will soon be underway. “We got a tip  from the informers that some people will be cutting and transporting Khair wood and based on the information, we planned a strategy and deployed a team on the road between Penand village and Nangamodi village near Saphale,” said Vaidya The team of the forest department was deployed at strategic location from 8.30 pm on March 11.