KHERONI: The forest officials posted in Kheroni of West Karbi Anglong of Assam were able to seize a sizeable amount of timber during an operation on Sunday.
The incident took place in the Arnamteplong locality of Kherni on Sunday. The officials of the department had received a tip that a large consignment of valuable timber was being moved. The consignment was being moved from West Karbi Anglong to Lanka in the Hojai district of the state.
The timber smugglers were reportedly transporting the valuable consignment using the Kapili River when the authorities seized it. The approximate market value of the seized consignment is said to be over Rs 1 lakh.
Previously also the officials of the forest department of Assam have tightened the checking against illegal felling of timber in an attempt to protect the forest cover of the state. As a part of this same initiative, the forest department officials undertook an operation in the Kheroni forest area which comes under the West Karbi Anglong district of the state. During this operation, the officials came across a gang involved in the illegal felling of trees in the forest region on Monday night.
The team had to chase down the vehicle as they tried to flee from the forest guards. They were finally able to apprehend the vehicle but the driver and helper of the vehicle were able to flee into the forest. The market value of the seized timber is said to be around Rs 70000 to 80000. Meanwhile, the team was able to seize a Tata pickup truck bearing registration number AS 02 BC 8473 with the confiscated timber on it.
In another incident that took place in the same region of the state, unknown miscreants were able to get away with a vehicle used by the forest department for their operations.
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