THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, December 18: A team of the Kundri range of the Medininagar Forest Division recovered logs of the precious Sakhuwa tree (timber) and nabbed two people.
The interception and seizure were carried out at 10 pm Wednesday winter night in a regular and routine forest patrol, said sources.
The logs of the Sakhuwa tree measured more than 3 feet thick and 7 feet long, which in the market could be worth a lakh of rupees, said sources.
Two accused arrested, others on the run
Two people, identified as Ravinder Yadav and Surinder Bhuiyan, have been booked under sections of the Indian Forest Act and forwarded to judicial custody on Thursday.
Yadav was the man at the wheel of the tractor trolley, which was shipping these illicit timber at night. Bhuiyan is a labourer who must have been lured by the smuggler of timber to load and transport the illicit timber for a good amount of wages.
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A forest offence caught at night becomes more severe because damage or destruction of the forest after sunset and before sunrise is seen as a deliberate act of crime against the forest and its habitat.
Search is on for two more, Ganga Yadav and Yogeshwar Bhuiyan, who have gone into hiding.
All four, Ravindra, Surender, Ganga and Yogeshwar come from one village Parsom.
Tree felled 2 days earlier, smuggling planned at night
The sakhuwa tree that was so felled could be three decades old. It was felled and logged a couple of days ago.
The modus operandi of the timber smuggler is to first fell a tree in a remote location in the forest, watch it for days if this felling is noticed by the cattle watcher or forest guard and thereafter, with the help of a carryable saw tool, the felled tree is logged and then shipped at night.
Here, an alert and vigilant forest patrol team aborted the smuggling and recovered the timbers.
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DFO of Medininagar Forest Division Satyam Kumar, a 2015 batch IFS officer, has asked the forest teams to thwart any move to destroy the forest and take all measures to counter such an offence.
Winter nights make forests vulnerable as smugglers exploit the inclemency of weather to the hilt in their own interest.
