Himachal: Khair smugglers attempt to run over forest officials while fleeing in Bilaspur, arrested

Bilaspur (HP), Feb 27 (PTI) A group of khair smugglers tried to crush a forest department team after being intercepted by them in the Bilaspur district, officials said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday night when three members of the khair mafia team -- Ajay Kumar (Ballu), Manish Kumar (Dadiyana) and Mukesh Kumar (Dali), all residents of Bilaspur district -- were intercepted by a team of the forest department. The smugglers allegedly made an attempt to crush the forest workers and officers performing their duties.

The Bilaspur Sadar forest department team had earlier received intel that khair wood, also known as white gold, was being taken from the forests in the Jhaleda Kuddi area, following which a trap was laid.

Taking advantage of the darkness, the smugglers were attempting to flee with the goods loaded into a pickup truck, forest officials said.

As soon as the team signalled the suspicious pickup to stop, the driver instead accelerated the vehicle, they added.

A dangerous scene unfolded when the smugglers attempted to run over five personnel, including the range officer, who were present at the scene, according to officials. The department employees saved their lives with alertness, immediately launched a chase and finally intercepted the vehicle at Mandi Bharari.

As many as 50 large logs of khair wood were recovered from the vehicle, and all the three accused were arrested, they said.

The team that carried out this operation included Block Officer Surendra and Forest Guards Jitendra, Rajneesh, and Ankesh.

Range Officer Narendra Singh confirmed that the police have registered a case against the accused under relevant sections of the Forest Act and for attempted murder. The vehicle has been seized and the police are now investigating the felling of khair trees. PTI COR BPL PRK