Raiganj, Nov. 8: Lack of proper security measures in and around the NH 31 has led to a spurt in the smuggling of illegally felled timber — mostly from the Dooars — that is finding itsway to various parts of southBengal.

The timber mafia seems to have found ingenious ways — the smugglers know how to mark the legally felled timbers — to give the “unsuspecting police the slip”, according to the senior forest department officials.

Admitting to the growing menace, Raiganj divisional forest officer Ajoy Kumar Das said special measures were being taken to curb the problem.

Police sources also confirmed that there has been an abnormal rise in the illegal felling of timber in recent times.

The problem is not only acute in the Dooars but also in both North and South Dinajpur districts. Poor security arrangement along the NH 31 — the smugglers have found an easy conduit in the 600-km long road link between Siliguri and Calcutta — is the primary reason behind the flourish of this lucrative trade.

At present the state forest department boasts of a lone checking point at Chopra in North Dinajpur district. If the smugglers manage to evade the forest officials at Chopra, then the rest of the route is a virtual freeway, sources said.

This is largely because the police are too caught up with their routine activities and are often not in a position to keep close tabs on the timber mafia. To make matters worse, the lawbreakers have recently come up with a “new route to evade the vigilant guards at the Chopra check post”.

“Usually, the illegally felled timber laden Calcutta-bound trucks start from Siliguri and straightaway head for Bihar via the Bidhannagar Bypass. The vehicles hit the NH-31 only at the Purnea More in Dalkhola, where the highway security is extremely lax,” forest department sources said.

The police check posts on the entire stretch are, however, the only “minor irritants” for the smugglers. Those also have been off late taken care off, thanks to the their ingenious ways.

The timber mafia is well aware of the fact that the forest department uses customised hammers to mark the legally felled timbers and also attaches a serial tag to it as a seal of the its approval. Now, in a bid to deceive the police, the smugglers have also started a “genuine fake” ploy.

They use specialised implements like scissors hammer, passing hammer and selma king scissors — similar to the ones used by the forest department staff — and also put serial tags on the illegally felled timber to “authenticate their act”. Asked about this, DFO Das said: “It is difficult to keep tabs on the entire 187-km stretch of the NH-31 that passes through the North Dinajpur district. But, we have raised a task force comprising the Malda and Raiganj divisions, which conducts surprise checks on the highway.