Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: A Forest Department report contradicts state claims of irregularities regarding the auction of seized red sanders. The document details how the bidding process followed prescribed government procedures while M.K. Yadav served as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force. Yadav now serves as the Special Chief Secretary overseeing the department that is investigating the auction.
On August 13, Joint Secretary Sachindra Das ordered a halt to the movement of red sanders. The order cited police inputs and reports alleging irregularities. However, the committee report submitted by current PCCF and HoFF Sandeep Kumar shows the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change approved the disposal of confiscated stock on July 25, 2022. The state government followed with its own approval on December 20, 2023.
Official records demonstrate the process was transparent. An auction notice for 138.620 metric tons of red sanders appeared on the government e-auction portal on November 13, 2025. Eight technical bids were submitted, with the financial auction taking place on December 11, 2025. The report states: "The department's own report therefore demolishes, at least prima facie, any suggestion that the auction itself was an unauthorised or secret disposal of red sanders."
The controversy intensified after Dhubri police detained trucks loading the timber. The department claims the transport was an effort to centralize stock for successful bidders, following a July 28, 2026 communication from the Regional Office of the MoEF&CC. The state government had previously approved the transportation of the material on April 27, 2026. The department report notes that the successful bidders completed all required formalities, including payments for bid security and taxes.
The investigation now faces significant scrutiny. With documented approvals at every stage of the process, the basis for the current probe remains unclear. Officials are left to determine if they are investigating genuine illegal activity or attempting to find faults in a process their own machinery already approved.
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