Malkangiri: Two persons were arrested and a vehicle loaded with smuggled timber worth lakhs of rupees were seized by forest department officials of Padmagiri division in this district late Tuesday night. The accused have been identified as Rabi Kabasi (23) of Karukonda village and Sabar Sagaria (38) of Balisagar village in this district.
According to forest department officials, the timber mafia groups have been very active for the last couple of month in Padmagiri division which is situated in a remote area of this district. To put an end to their activities, officials Pradeep Devdas Mirase and Basudev Nayak along with other staff members in association with the local police conducted a surprise raid Tuesday night. In the process, they seized the vehicle containing a large quantity of timber and also apprehended the two accused.
An FIR has been lodged against the two accused. They were produced in a local court Wednesday morning and remanded to police custody.
A case was filed against the accused and both the persons were forwarded to court.
PNN