Timber smugglers attack forest team with sharp weapons during raid in Bajpur, forester injured; teak and khair wood worth lakhs seized from godown

Around midnight on Wednesday, a joint team of the Rudrapur and Bajpur forest departments raided a godown in Pahadi Colony, Bajpur, on a tip-off. According to Amar Ujala, Rudrapur ranger Laxman Singh Bisht had been told that teak and khair wood was being stored illegally in the godown. During the raid people from the neighbourhood gathered, and the godown operator and his associates misbehaved with the forest staff and then attacked them with sharp weapons, injuring Rudrapur range forester Surendra Singh in the hand and head. When the kotwali police arrived, the attackers fled under cover of darkness. The team seized a large quantity of teak and khair wood from the godown and sent it to the range office; it is said to be worth lakhs of rupees. The injured forester was treated at the government hospital in Bajpur and is said to be out of danger. According to the ranger, the accused are being identified and a complaint will be given to the police for a case under the Forest Act and sections for obstructing government work and assault. (Source: Amar Ujala)