Villager arrested for setting fire to forest in Uttarakhand's Chamoli

Gopeshwar (U'khand): A villager was caught while allegedly setting fire in the forest area near Pipalkoti in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district and handed over to the police.

Virendra Singh was arrested on Wednesday for setting fire in the afforestation area of Math-Jhadeta under Alaknanda Forest Division, forest department sources said.

A case has been registered at Chamoli police station against the accused, a resident of Math village.

Receiving information about the attempt to set fire, a forest department team led by Deputy Forest Ranger Dubbal Singh reached the spot and found the accused setting fire in a forest area.

During interrogation, the accused said he had set fire to grow green grass for goats.