Udala: Two persons were arrested and two pick-up vans loaded with smuggled logs worth lakhs of rupees were seized by the Forest Department officials of Udala division Wednesday.
According to sources, forest officials raided and seized one pick-up van loaded with smuggled wood late Tuesday night and seized one more vehicle along with a bike Wednesday morning
As per information, late Tuesday night, one pick-up van (OR-22 A 5094) loaded with smuggled wood was travelling from Nilagiri to Udala. The Forest Department stopped it at Mendhakhai within Udala police circle, suspecting it to be carrying smuggled wood. Officials seized the pick-up and arrested its driver Jitu Singh (22) of Nilagiri area. The approximate value of wood recovered would be around Rs. 50,000.
Similarly, another pick-up (WB-31 2486) loaded with logs of teak wood going from Udala to Balasore was detained near Kainsari, Wednesday morning. However, the driver managed to escape. But another youth who was travelling by a bike was arrested on the suspicion of his involvement in timber smuggling. The arrested person was identified as Huma Mishra (38) of Balipal village in the Balasore district and a bike (OR-11 C 7856) recovered from him.
The approximate value of teak wood recovered would be around Rs 1 lakh, Udala forester Ashish Kumar Behera said. A case was filed against the accused and both the persons were forwarded to court.
PNN