Gauhati High Court orders CBI probe into smuggling of areca nuts into Mizoram

Aizawl: The Aizawl bench of Gauhati High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the alleged rampant smuggling of areca nuts from neighbouring Myanmar into Mizoram, a court official said on Saturday.

The order was passed recently while hearing a PIL filed by social activist Vanramchhuangi, popularly known as Ruatfela Nu, the official said.

In an order issued on Tuesday, a bench comprising Justice Zothankhuma and Justice Marli Vankung stated that the offence pertains to commercial transactions for which a fair and impartial inquiry can be achieved only through 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 stated.

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.

She urged that CBI be directed to take up the matter as the state government was playing a "passive role" in curbing the menace of smuggling of dry areca nuts from Myanmar into India through south Mizoram's Champhai district.

Over the past few years, the smuggling of Burmese areca nuts into Mizoram has snowballed into a political issue, with allegations of nexus between politicians and high-ranking officials, and the smugglers.

Alleging failure on the part of the government to curb the menace, local areca nut growers had taken the law into their own hands by setting up check-posts in their respective areas to curb smuggling, which had resulted in the burning of large caches of smuggled areca nuts and a number of vehicles used for transportation of the goods.