Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Two deputy rangers and a forest guard suffered injury while chasing thieves of teakwood in Choral Forest area, Indore on Tuesday. The team of officials, however, arrested one thief out of nine. The officials have seized teak tree logs worth Rs 60,000 and a motorcycle from the spot.
Sub Divisional Officer (SDO). AK Shrivastava said that he had received the information about the act of stealing teak tree logs in the Choral Forest area late night on Monday. Later, a team of forest officials was formed for the mission.
“Around 4 in the morning, we found a load of teak trees chopped and being stolen by some thieves,” Shrivasatav said. The team acted quickly and confiscated the load of logs.
“There were nine people with bikes. They tried to flee from the spot. As soon as the team came into action, they started pelting stones,” Shrivastava said.
Deputy ranger Rajesh Nagwade has got stitches in his thumb whereas Deputy ranger Shyam Gohe and forest guard Rahul Datre have swelling.
The accused Arun Ramesh Bhil was arrested and presented in the court. His motorcycle was confiscated along with 16 logs of teak.
“We tried to catch all of them but failed because of stone pelting. Such instances usually rise before a festival, as most villagers want to make easy money and selling away timber is much easier during festivals,” Shrivastava added.
