Siliguri, June 29: Shyamal Hajra, who is wanted in several cases of timber smuggling across north Bengal as well as Kerala, surrendered to officials of the Baikunthapur forest division today.

“We have been looking for Hajra for the last four-five years. Finally, he has surrendered,” said Sailesh Anand, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of the division.

Hajra, a resident of Dakuapara near Jalpaiguri town, gave himself up at the Belakoba range office of the forest division, about 30km from here.

“The 35-year-old was one of the 10-member gang that operates a racket mainly from the Dooars to Siliguri and its surrounding areas. The others members live in Siliguri, Shibmandir, Sevoke and different places in the area,” Anand said.

Hajra, who was a driver in the gang, and the other members used to collect timber from the Dooars and store them in Siliguri, Sevoke and its surrounding areas, before dispatching the consignments to Bihar.

The DFO, however, did not reveal the names of the other members of the gang for the sake of investigation.

Anand said: “After operating in the Dooars for years, Hajra had run away to Kerala and lived there for the past couple of years. During his stay there, he was again involved in illegal activities in Idukki and Kovalam and was wanted by police there. The smuggler was forced to return to north Bengal after pressure mounted on him.”

According to the DFO, Hajra had thought that because of his long absence from the region, foresters here might have forgotten about him.

“But we always keep tabs on his whereabouts and movements and are in constant touch with villagers from where he hailed.”

But after returning from south India, when the smuggler realised that situation remained the same and he was still wanted by the foresters for the crimes, he decided to surrender, Anand said.

“Hajra contacted N.N. Sengupta, the range officer of Belakoba, and Sanjoy Dutta, the beat officer of Gourikund, in the last two days and surrendered today,” the DFO added.