Bargaon: Forest officials Monday seized 52 bags of top grade manganese ore from a forest near Salabira and Nakati villages under Bargaon police limits in Sambalpur district.
On being directed by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Arun Kumar Mishra, a team led by Bargaon ranger BK Mahapatra, forester Prakash Pradhan, Kalindra Bhitria and other officials conducted a raid and seized the packets worth lakhs of rupees, it was learnt.
According to sources, mafia had been quarrying manganese from the forest to sell them at premium price. Despite receiving regular inputs and complaints from the locals, the forest officials couldn’t arrest anyone in this connection.