Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate (ADPC) has intercepted a potato loaded truck trying to enter Jharkhand with forged challans and arrested one person from Duburdih check-post on national highway-19 in Bengal – Jharkhand border.

After instructions of chief minister Mamata Banerjee not to allow potato-loaded trucks to enter Jharkhand from this state, the ADPC, Birbhum, Purulia police have started naka checking at the bordering checkposts and intercepting all potato loaded trucks.

In Duburdih check-post of Asansol, already Kulti police have seized potato-loaded trucks and in Barabani seized potato-loaded trucks with fake challans and arrested the driver and the helper of the truck.

The trucks are mostly loaded from East Burdwan and Hooghly districts.

ADPC sources said that a racket recently has become active at the border and trying to pass potato-loaded trucks with fake challans in lieu of money.

After this interception, the ADPC have further beefed up the naka checks at the border and started scrutiny of papers of all trucks including vehicle frisking by Kulti Traffic Guard police and Chowringhee Police outpost under Kulti police station.

Since yesterday, in various areas of bordering areas of Jharkhand, villagers have started agitations and have threatened to stop trucks loaded with vegetables to the state if potato-loaded trucks are not allowed to enter from West Bengal. The agitations are taking place in the Purulia-Jharkhand and Dhanbad-West Burdwan border.

The villagers residing in these bordering villages of Jharkhand often come to Bengal to purchase daily fill of potatoes and vegetables, fruits and fish, but nowadays ADPC cops are not allowed to purchase potatoes from the local markets and take back to their native villages in Jharkhand.

Agnimitra Paul, MLA of Asansol South said that the state should allow passing of potato-loaded trucks to Jharkhand and other states, so that those states do not face a crisis.

The NH-19 is the lifeline between Kolkata and New Delhi and everyday several thousands of trucks cross the border from both sides, and most of them are loaded with essential commodities like potatoes, fruits, vegetables, fish, eggs etc.