Forest officials on Wednesday arrested five persons on the charge of illegal quarrying in the Balarampur and Brajagiri hillocks under the Dalijola Forest Range. The officials also seized four trucks and a tractor from them.
The arrested persons were identified as Ajit Kumar Behera (27) of Kamahanagar, Deepak Mallick (25) of Bausabanta village under the Jenapur police station and Yudhisthir Samal (38) of Arua village under the Dharmasala police station, Rama lenka and Sarat Jena.
They were booked under Section 412 of IPC and Section 56 of Forest Act, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sudrashan Behera. The arrested persons with some others had been quarrying black stones without obtaining any permission from the authorities, said the DFO officer.