“We are Mama’s men”: say miscreants charging Rs 10/kg to betel nut traders; “Outside forces tempering system,” Cachar SP

As the incidents of Burmese Supari-laden trucks being caught by police started to become the news, as the local tambul (or tamul are wet areca nut, which is ripe and has orange to red skin) traders started their business, they began to face yet another challenge with a few miscreants.

On Monday morning, when the trucks filled with local tambul were passing through the Digorkhal weight bridge, they were charged Rs 10 per kilo by some men to continue their journey towards Guwahati. When asked for bill, the men said they have instructions from above, and are “Mama’s men”.

After being closed for a long time, the trade of locally grown areca nuts started three days back with the instruction from Cachar Police. The Cachar Police has set up a weighbridge in Assam-Meghalaya bordering area, Digorkhal. That bridge acts as a checkpoint for a thorough examination of the truck to check for any suspicious substances and verify the produce. Only after the checking, do the trucks get a pass for going ahead towards Guwahati. As informed to Barak Bulletin, this weight bridge was set up by the Cachar Police with instruction from the Cachar SP, Numal Mahatta. Numal Mahatta also informed us that, he briefed all the officers and constables about this check post and asked to keep it free from any disturbances.

A trader on the road alleged that there were three men who were trying to extort money from them and that too in this exponential amount. This incident was caught on camera and when the traders started to question who they were, one of them replied, they have permission from the above, meaning Dispur or Guwahati. The three men came to the spot in a Ford Endeavour with registration number AS 19N 2451 and also had “PRESS” written on the windshield of the car.

A trader there said to the media, “We have been here for the last three days to reach Guwahati and these men came and asked us to pay rupees 10 per kilo and only then we can start our truck to go ahead. How can we pay this amount? If we pay 10 rupees per kilo it amounts to 1 lakh per truck, where will we get that kind of money? When we asked them who they were, they said they were Mama’s Men (CM Himanta Biswa Sarma). Chief Minister on the other hand said that we don’t have to pay any single amount for the trade, then who is sending these men?” Another trader also mentioned that those men have stopped them yesterday and demanded the money and when they refused they didn’t let them pursue their journey. When they asked for any bill against this fine or fees, they replied that this is a syndicate and the syndicate has no bill.

When Barak Bulletin reached up to Cachar SP Numal Mahatta to ask about this matter, he said, “We have set up this weight checking bridge and I have briefed all the officers and constables to properly function on this bridge. I have received a report about this fight. This is totally illegal and I have sent my men to look into the matter. We are trying to keep this system free of any outside forces but some people think the police are earning money from this. Our stance is clear, there is no money involved and those people who are trying to do this are outside forces trying to tamper with the system. We will not tolerate this system. There are also people who are trying to stop this trade and the system. But one thing that I want to say is, our men have not charged any money and will not charge in the future as well”.