GAUR, RAUTAHAT: The wood smugglers in Rautahat district have been found to be using vehicles with Indian registration plates for illegal transportation of wood. The fact was substantiated further after smugglers left a vehicle with Indian registration number on Thursday night in a shroud of confusion of shots fired by local authorities. The smugglers reportedly left a vehicle with two registration plates, one showing Indian registration number — UP 41 AT 3812 — and another from Nepal — Na 34 Cha 6150 — as they fled in a rush. A night patrol team from the Rautahat District Forest Office (DFO) had fired shots in the air which forced the smugglers leave behind the pickup truck along with the wood. The forest patrol team from Bishrampur of Brindaban Rural Municipality fired 10 rounds into the air after which it was able to confiscate the pickup truck with six logs or 60 cubic feet of wood from Sal tree, DFO stated. The team followed the pickup van that entered the forest from the East-West Highway, and as the smugglers did not heed to the repeated warnings the shots were fired, according to Forest Official Dirgha Narayan Koirala at the DFO. READ ALSO:

• 3 wood smugglers arrested
• Sal timbers worth Rs 3.5 lakh confiscated from Rautahat