Bolangir: Acting on a tip-off, officials of Bolangir forest division seized a truck transporting timber worth lakhs of rupees near Deogaon rail crossing in Bolangir district late Thursday night. According to sources, the forest division had received information from a reliable source about the illegal transportation of the timbers to Bargarh district.
Following instructions of Bolangir DFO, Sameer Satpathy, a squad from Saintala range of Deogaon intercepted the truck, sources said. The forest officials seized 74 logs and arrested six persons. While the cost of the timber is Rs 5 lakh in the local market, it is more than Rs 20 lakh in international market, the officials said adding that a car and a bike used for smuggling of the timber was also seized.
Among the six arrested persons, five were indentified to be from Bargarh while one of them is a resident of Sonepur district, informed sources. They have been identified as Mubarak Khan (44), Jogesh Mishra (42), Sheikh Samsu (32), Chitrasen Bhoi (27), Safadar Ali (37) and Deepak Gochayat (24). The six were regular offenders. They smuggled timber from Kalahandi, Bolangir, Sonepur, Bargarh and Boudh and sold it in Kolkata, Raipur and Uttar Pradesh.
“The timbers were already loaded into the truck before I took off. They (smugglers) told me to drive the truck to the destination. Some of the locals informed me about the wood after I took-off,” said Mubarak Khan, the driver of the truck.
Bolangir forester, Vyasadev Sahu said “The truck was loaded with 74 Kendu tree logs. Six persons have been arrested in this connection while a truck, car and a bike have also been seized.”
PNN