Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Even though there is no clue of the persons responsible for cutting 5 sandalwood trees from the Forest Department campus in Navratan Bagh, Indore, in the last six months the department has managed to trace the two accused who chopped off and stole a sandalwood tree from Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Betul Prafulla Fuljhele's bungalow in Navratan Bagh on Wednesday.
The accused have since been arrested. The forest officers swung into action as soon as the information was received. They traced the thieves with the help of sniffer dogs brought from the Ralamandal Sanctuary and arrested two accused who during interrogation named a third accomplice. Later, the department handed the two accused to the police.
The incident was reported at 2.30 am. The accused had entered the campus and used an electronic machine to cut the tree. CCF Fuljhele’s family members heard sounds and informed the officials who sent the information to DFO Narendra Pandwa.
The accused fled before the forest team reached the spot. When the forest workers looked around the bungalow, they found a sandalwood tree chopped down. CCTV footage revealed three persons chopping the tree using an electric saw.
The sniffer dog led the forest team to a house in the slum adjacent to Masih School. The team found sandalwood blocks and splinters there. After questioning, the forest team arrested two accused living in the house. The accused Aniket Verma and Ankit Verma are brothers and are in their early 20s. Their interrogation revealed that their father was the third accused involved in chopping and stealing the trees.
DFO Pandwa said, “Recently we have had too many cases of sandalwood trees theft from the forest campus.” The department meant to protect forests has been failing to protect trees on its campus. “Since more than 5 sandalwood were stolen from our campus in the last six months, we launched an investigation and ensured prompt actions,” Pandwa said.
Negligence of Ranger
Ranger Koshamby Jha was given the responsibility of security of the Forest Division Office at Navratan Bagh. Sandalwood trees have been cut from the house of CCF, DFO and SDO five times between January and July.
The first two incidents happened in a time span of just 15 days but there was no recording available of the thefts as the CCTV was malfunctioning. The department simply lodged a complaint with the police but did not bother to make serious efforts to trace the accused.
The third incident came to light in April and the fourth on June 8. According to sources, there is a possibility of a forest official helping the accused to steal sandalwood trees from the campus.
