Alipurduar, March 15: A consignment of teak being smuggled out of Assam through the Chennai Mail was offloaded here by officials of the Buxa Tiger Reserve yesterday, confirming an open secret that the forest wealth of the northeastern states was making its way down South.

The timber, booked at Dibrugarh station, is worth around Rs 5 lakh. It was being transported without any valid papers though it was booked in the railway luggage van.

When the news of the consignment reached the forest officials of Bongaigaon district of Assam, they realised they would not probably reach on time. Instead of taking a chance, they called the forest officials of Buxa Tiger Reserve.

As soon as the message reached Buxa, a team was rushed to New Alipurduar Station to carry out the raid.

The team, led by deputy field director of BTR (East) Suvankar Sengupta, along with the railway police broke open the luggage van and seized the consignment.

The incident has also raised questions on the role of the railway staff. Officials who carried out the raid pointed out that it was impossible to book such a huge consignment without the collusion of the railway staff at Dibrugarh and the smugglers.

Two days ago, another consignment of Kawla bark was seized at Baikunthapur forest division under NJP station from another train coming from Assam. The haul was worth more than Rs 2 lakh.

?We received the information from forest officials of Assam and we rushed to the station. It is really surprising that such a huge consignment was booked in a railway luggage van and that too without valid papers. Definitely there was a lapse on the part of the booking staff at Dibrugar station, otherwise this could not have happened. We will talk to the railway top brass about this. Such smuggling of the forest wealth will have to stop,? said Sengupta.

Asked about the incident, Trailokyo Nath Rava, chief public relation officer of Northeast Frontier Railway, declined to comment.

?I have to check out the matter. Till now I do not have any information regarding the haul so I cannot say anything,? he said.

Timber smuggling had been rampant a decade ago but forest officials of West Bengal claimed that the practice was curbed after the department launched an intensive operation to root out the problem. The recent hauls confirm that the illegal trade has struck roots again.