Sendhwa (Madhya Pradesh): A team of forest officials on Tuesday was attacked by a group of teak wood smugglers during night patrolling here at Panjaria village of Sendhwa under Barwani district.
As per Anupam Sharma, DFO of Forest Division, Sendhwa, the smugglers with timber-laden bikes were spotted in the wee hours. A team of Dhawali forest officials on patrolling duty tried to catch them but the smugglers attacked them and partially damaged their vehicle.
Forest range officer Hemant Prajapati immediately informed Varla range officer Rajneesh Tripathi about the incident. A police team was sent to the spot to intercept the smugglers. On being informed, DFO Sharma with a joint team of police along with teams of Sendhwa Forest Division and Maharashtra Forest Department reached the scene and launched a search operation to trace the attackers.
The team raided a Kaccha house and seized illegally kept teak along with a woodcutter. However, the smugglers managed to escape from the scene. After which, Dhawali and Varla forest team continued their night patrolling and intercepted a bike laden with 9 Teakwoods logs at 5.30 am on Tuesday but here too the smuggler managed to escape.
