Forest offcials have foiled an attempt by the timber mafia to smuggle logs of precious trees. Five logs of wood were seized in an early morning crackdown on timber smugglers in the tiger reserve’s core area falling under Barwadeeh police station on Tuesday. The tiger reserve officials have seized the vehicle used for smuggling, but the vehicle driver and two other smugglers managed to escape.
DFO core of the PTR A K Mishra said the five logs of wood were of precious trees Beeja and Saal.Trees were felled two weeks ago and on Tuesday the smugglers planned to ship the logs. But, the PTR personnel along with strike force foiled the smuggling bid.
The vehicle in which the logs were being smuggled belonged to Uday Agarwal, said DFO core A K Mishra.
Mishra said Beeja and Saal wood is getting rare now as timber mafia is cutting down those trees.
PTR officials have lodged a complaint.