Timber smugglers, fearing to get caught by Forest Department personnel, attacked and injured two Foresters of the Rairangpur forest range in Mayurbhanj district on Sunday.
The two officers were admitted at the Rairangpur Government hospital in the district. later, when the health condition of Patnaik became critical, he was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital here. The wood mafias, including the mastermind father-son duo, attacked Foresters Satya Patnaik and A Mohanty when they chased them in a forest under the Rairangpur range.
One of the smugglers, Mahendra Sahu, was arrested while the others including Sahu’s son Santosh were still absconding, Forest Department sources said. Subramanian Swamy joins BJP, merges his party.