Police foil smuggling bid at Rafiabad; 5 held, illicit timber seized

Sopore, Oct 18: In a bid to save green gold, Sopore police along with the forest department on Tuesday recovered a large quantity of illicit timber from smugglers in Rafiabad.
An official said that five smugglers were arrested along with the illicit timber from Panzala Rafiabad in the jurisdiction of Police district Sopore.
Acting on a specific input a team of police party headed by the SHO Police Station Panzala raided a specific place where a large quantity of illicit timber were lying suspiciously, official said.
He said, that 107 feet illicit timber which were meant for illegal smuggling were seized on the spot from the smugglers.
The arrestees were identified as Abdul Aziz Sheikh son of Ghulam Ahmad Sheikh, Ghulam Mohiudin son of Muhammad Abdullah, Khazir Mohammad Sheikh son of Ghulam Mohammed, Shabir Ahmad Sheikh and Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh sons of Muhammad Yaseen Sheikh – all residents of Takiya Panzala Rafiabad.
The official said that a case FIR No. 61/2022, U/S 379 IPC, 26 Indian Forest Act has been registered in Police Station Panzala, adding that further investigation into the matter is going on.