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| Forest officials foil timber smuggling bid | | Involvement of police being suspected | |
Kishtwar, July 20
Another case of police involvement in timber smuggling surfaced in mountainous Kishtwar district, where forest department has claimed to have seized a truck full of finished Deodar clefts valuing more than one lakh rupees.
Sources said that based on a tip off a team of forest department and Forest Protection Force laid a naka near Husti on Doda-Kishtwar road late on Wednesday night.
The team reportedly noticed a Maruti Car, DL9C-3001, moving in suspicious circumstances during late night hours and chased it. Some armed persons, believed to be Special Task Force (STF) personnel were traveling in the car, which escaped on Sarthal road.
After a brief chase the forest officials realized that they were being misled by the car and the truck carrying smuggled wood is on some other road.
We returned back and noticed a Tata Pickup Mobile van, JK06-1208, full of carved Deodar wood parked on Dul Husti project road", one of the team member said. He said that on noticing the forest officials the driver escaped from the spot leaving the vehicle behind.
The vehicle was seized and taken to Kishtwar, sources said adding a case has been registered against the owner of the vehicle Muhammad Amin son of Muhammad Munwar of Kishtwar under Section 6, 5, 16, 26, 39 of Forest Act.
"The sized timber value more than one lakh rupees in the market", DFO Kishtwar Bashir Ahmed Shah said adding, "After preliminary investigation it has been revealed that the timber was extracted from Kutal area in Thakrai Block and was being smuggled to Kishtwar."
However, the statement of Range Officer Firdous Ahmed who was supervising the raiding team has added confusion to the seizure.
Sources said that in his statement to the DFO the officer has stated that the maruti car which was moving in suspicious circumstances on the road was possibly providing information to the truck driver about the movement of forest team.
"The passengers in the van were armed but could not be recognized due to darkness", the officer has said in his statement.
Local people believe that there is visible hand of STF in the smuggling. "There is a STF picket on the road at Kandni and it is impossible that any vehicle could move in the area without the connivance of police".
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