Aizawl: Police in Mizoram’s Khawzawl district seized 550 bags of urea, suspected to have been illegally smuggled to Myanmar, at the Tuisenphai check gate on Friday morning and arrested one person in connection with the seizure, a senior police officer said.The official said police personnel conducting routine checks at around 7.30 am intercepted a truck bearing an Aizawl district registration number. The vehicle was travelling from Vairengte in Kolasib district towards Champhai, which borders Myanmar.The truck was carrying 550 bags of urea worth Rs 7.15 lakh, at Rs 1,300 per bag, without a valid allotment order or acknowledgement letter from the competent authority.The fertiliser’s owner, who was also driving the truck, was identified as Lalremruata (46), a resident of Tuikual South in Aizawl.During questioning, Lalremruata allegedly told police that he intended to sell the fertiliser in Myanmar at a higher price.The consignment and the vehicle were being handed over to the district agriculture officer, Khawzawl, for necessary legal action, the official said.An official of the state agriculture and farmers’ welfare department said large quantities of fertiliser, heavily subsidised by central govt for Indian farmers, were being illegally smuggled to Myanmar. The official attributed this to the limited use of chemical fertilisers by farmers in Mizoram, who mainly depend on organic fertilisers.
