Mizoram: CBI discovers 23 secret areca nut godowns
AIZAWL: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has so far discovered 23 godowns illegally set up to store smuggled areca nuts in Mizoram.
After the Gauhati High Court's order, the Central investigating agency has launched a probe into the smuggling of areca nuts from neighbouring Myanmar and submitted the First Information Report (FIR) to the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Aizawl District Court on August 7.
Following permission from the CJM to investigate areca nuts smuggling in the state, the CBI has discovered 23 godowns illegally set up to store smuggled areca nuts.
Of the 23 godowns, 19 are in the Myanmar border Champhai district and two each in Aizawl and Kolasib district.
The Central investigating agency also submitted its compliance report on the recovery and inspection of godowns to the CJM last week.
In July, the Gauhati High Court had directed the CBI to investigate the alleged rampant smuggling of areca nuts from neighbouring Myanmar into India's Mizoram
The order was passed based on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by social activist Vanramchhuangi, more popularly known as 'Ruatfela Nu'.
In an order passed on July 26, a bench of Justice Zothankhuma and Justice Marli Vankung upheld that the the offence pertains to commercial transactions for which a fair and impartial inquiry amongst others can be achieved only by an investigation undertaken by the CBI.
The court said that the direction has been passed due to the stand taken by the state police that they are unable to investigate the offence thoroughly as it involves international smuggling originating from Myanmar.
"Accordingly, the CBI shall investigate the matter and register a case, if necessary, and take it to its logical conclusion," the court said.
In her PIL filed at the Aizawl bench of the high court, Ruatfela Nu alleged that the Mizoram government has not taken any steps to curb the smuggling of dry areca nuts and that fake or forged e-way bills have been issued by the Central GST and state GST authorities.
She urged that an appropriate order be passed directing the CBI to take up the matter as the state government is playing a passive role in curbing the menace of smuggling of dry areca nuts from Myanmar into India through south Mizoram's Champhai district.
As per affidavits filed by the state government and assistant commissioner of Central GST, the court said that the state government issued e-way bills worth over Rs.251 crore for transportation of areca nuts from Champhai to outside the district during 2021-2024, while the Central GST issued e-way bills on the assessable value of more Rs.86.2 crore during the same period.
However, there was no production of areca nuts in Champhai district during the period as the areca nut plantation started in the district in 2021 and 2022 are not yet yielding, the court said.
Since a few years back, the issue of Burmese area nuts into Mizoram has been a hot topic snowballing into a political issue with allegations of politicians and high-ranking officials being involved in the offence.
Alleging failure on the part of the government to curb the menace, local areca nut growers took up laws into their own hands by setting up check posts in their respective areas to curb the smuggling, which resulted in the burning of a large cache of smuggled areca nuts and a number of vehicles used for transportation of areca nuts.
