KOCHI: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Tuesday seized 17 kg of agarwood worth around `50 lakh and 850 ml agarwood oil valued at `10 lakh from an Assam native at the Ernakulam Town railway station. Mashuk Ahmed, 25, of Nagaon, Assam, was nabbed by the Special Squad after he was seen carrying Agarwood pieces without documents.
The items packed inside two bags were ferried on board the train. The consignment was to be sold to a shop at Maradu here after evading the GST, said RPF.
“The accused confessed that he was transporting the seized materials to fetch high profit,” said an officer.
A team led by T S Gopakumar, Assistant Commissioner, RPF, which comprised inspector, A K Prince, head constables Saji Augustine, Suresh Abraham and Madhu, and constable Ajith Kumar, nabbed the accused. Agarwood is a protected species under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and scheduled tree species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.