Foresters raid athlete’s house -Swapna’s family asked to show timber papers

The forest department personnel near the house of Swapna Burman on Monday : Biplab Basak

TT  |   Jalpaiguri   | 14.07.20  :  The special task force of the Bengal forest department raided the house of athlete Swapna Burman near here on Monday and served her family a notice seeking purchase documents of the timber found at her residence.

She had won gold medal in heptathlon in the Asian Games in 2018. Swapna, along with her family, resides at Kaliaganj.

Sources said Swapna’s family was building a new house on the ancestral land at the village. They said the family had bought timber recently to make doors and windows of the house.

“We came to know that some illegal timber had been stacked at the house

of Swapna Burman. Accordingly, we conducted a raid in her house and found some logs. We asked them to show us purchase receipts of the timber to confirm that the logs had been bought from proper sources. They could not furnish us with any document. So, we have served a notice on them, asking them to show us the documents within 30 days,” said Sanjoy Dutta, the range officer of the special task force.

In Bengal, anybody buying timber for purposes like making furniture should carry a receipt issued by a licensed seller. The receipt should mention details of the timber like its type, quantity and cost. “If any timber or a wooden item is not validated by such a receipt, it is deemed to be illegal,” said source in the state forest department.

Asked about the family’s clarification, Dutta said: “As I asked them about the documents, they told us that as the construction of the house was going on, they had kept the papers somewhere and could not find them.”

During the raid, the family had closed the entrance to their house. None of the family members responded to questions tossed by newspersons from outside. Numerous calls made by The Telegraph to Swapna and her family members went unanswered.