Nayagarh: Kendu leaves worth Rs 2 lakh was looted from a government godown in Daspalla area of Odisha’s Nayagarh district on Wednesday.
The kendu leaves were stored in Daspalla’s Sakeni Kendu Godown run by the
state government.
Around a dozen masked miscreants arrived at the location, threatened the employees at gunpoint and fled with a huge quantity of kendu leaves packed in sacks, said sources.
Locals suspect the involvement of Maoists, while forest officials believe anti-social elements may be behind the act which was carried out late last night, sources added.
The forest department has registered a case in this connection and launched a manhunt to nab the miscreants.
The leaves, collected from the forest, are a key ingredient in bidi-making, and the theft is a significant loss, officials said.