Seoni Malwa (Madhya Pradesh): Forest mafias cut off 16 Sagon trees from the forest circle on the state national highway adjacent to the Betul-Indore forest circle in the early hours of Thursday, official sources said on Friday.
As they were about to run away after putting the teak wood logs on a truck, the forest guard along with forest officials rushed to the spot.
The officials, however, failed to prevent them from escaping. More than 15 people were involved in cutting the trees.
According to forest circle officer, Vandana Mahato, when the guard posted in Dhekna heard the fall of a tree with a thus, he rushed to the spot and saw a large number of trees lying there.
The guard immediately informed the forest officials. A team comprising employees of Gawasen, Timrani and Dhekna hurried to the spot.
The forest mafias escaped, breaking the barriers. Mahato said 16 Sagon trees had been cut off and 12 logs were made from those trees.
She further said the officials were measuring the cut- off Sagon trees and that they had registered cases against the culprits.
Besides Mahato, deputy divisional forest officer KS Sengar and representative of Member of Parliament Sandeep Tanwar also inspected the spot.
