DIBRUGARH: Three timber thieves were nabbed by the forest department officials in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Thursday for illegally chopping Hollong trees inside the Doomdooma reserve forest.
The accused were identifed as Arun Tasa, Markus Munda and Biru Bhukta of Rangpur village of Tinsukia’s Kakopathar area.
Kakopathar forest division ranger Praneswar Das said that the three accused had chopped down two giant Hollong trees inside the Doomdooma reserve forest.
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They were caught red-handed by a forest team who were patrolling inside the forest in the early morning hours.
“Our forest team while patrolling at around 5.20 am caught three timber thieves red-handed who were chopping down Hollong trees inside the reserve forest. They had already felled two giant Hollong trees.
“During interrogation, they admitted that they use to cut the felled logs into small firewood and then sell them to the country breweries in the area. They use to earn around Rs 250 to Rs 300 per bundle of firewood by selling them to the breweries. We have seized two bicycles, axes, saws, and machetes from them,” the ranger said.
He added, “We have already sought the help of the police to destroy the illicit country liquor breweries in the area.”
Devojit Moran, an environmentalist said, “Everyday timber smugglers are engaging their trusted henchmen for cutting valuable trees inside the reserve forest of Assam. It’s a big nexus running for a long time and many forest officials are involved with them.”
“Regular patrolling should be done inside the forest to curb wildlife crime. But it seems that the forest official don’t go deep inside the forest and as a result, the timber thieves get a chance to chop trees using machines,” he added.
Sources said rampant deforestation has been reported inside the Kakopathar reserve forest. Many illegal saw-mills have been running in the Tinsukia district without any license.
“The forest department should proactively work to curb the wildlife crime. The timber mafias have engaged many people into the business and in an organized way they are running the whole nexus with some corrupt officials from the forest department,” said a source.
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