Our Correspondent
DIGBOI: An unregistered timber-laden vehicle Tata Xenon Yodha was held by a team of Doomdooma forest led by Ranger Hiren Medkar on the wee hours of Wednesday under Khatangpani Range of Doomdooma Forest Division in Tinsukia district.
Three stumps of illegally procured matured logs from Tarani Reserve Forest in Pengaree area from the range were being transported by a group of four unidentified miscreants when the team of forest personnel encountered the vehicle along the deserted Pengaree-Philobari road amidst the Taranai Reserve Forest.
Lauding the efforts of the team Khatangpani for their relentless drive against the anti-social elements trading illegally on forest resources, Khadim Jaman Jinnah, the DFO of Doomdoma Forest Division said, “We have temporarily kept the seized resources along with the vehicles at the nearby Bijulibon police outpost and official formalities are being carried out to this effect. The value of the seized timber of a precious species is estimated at around Rs 40, 000.”
According to officials of the department, with the documents recovered from the vehicle the illegal trader would be identified easily and legal prosecution would be carried out on whosoever was found involved in the act.
In yet another development, based on a tip off, the team of Kakopather range along with the DFO recovered around 14 kg of chopped meat of a reindeer on Wednesday evening behind the office of the Kakopather Block Office under Dangari Reserve Forest of the Division. The chopped flesh of the animals was hidden under the outer layer of the soil. A handmade gun suspected to have been used in poaching was also recovered from the site.
“The description of the chopped wildlife and exact nature if its death can be ascertained only after the medical post-mortem report is received,” informed Jinnah, adding, “All the available departmental resources have been specifically alerted to be vigilant enough and patrolling round-the-clock will be done in all vulnerable pockets of the division. We have been cracking upon the menace of illegal timber business, wildlife poachers and other illegalities, including the mining operations, to promote and conserve the available resources in the division.”