Rourkela: A team of forest personnel from the Bonai forest division nabbed a transporter while trying to set fire to a jungle, forest officials said Sunday. The accused was identified as Satyanarayan Yadav, 39, a truck owner. The accused was handed over to the police. Police registered a case and produced him in the court from where he was remanded to judicial custody after his bail plea was rejected. Forest personnel said that Yadav transported iron ore in his truck from the Odisha Mining Corporation-owned mines. The incident occurred when he had gone to the mines to pick up his trip, Saturday.
The practice is to collect the token from the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) office and then proceed to the location to get the loading. Yadav kept his truck in the queue and went to get the token. However, as there was a long queue, for the token he slipped into the nearby Khandadhar reserve forest and tried to set the dry leaves and twigs on fire. A fire prevention patrolling party that was passing by caught him red-handed and arrested him before handing him over to the police, Naveen Pradhan, the team leader said. Yadav was trying to put fire to the Khandadhar Reserve Forest under the Barsuan forest range, Pradhan alleged.
