Dhubri: Police seized teak logs and arrested three suspected smugglers in Parbatjhora subdivision on Thursday night.Acting on a tip-off, Bogoribari police raided Kutkutarbhita and intercepted a thertheri, a locally made engine-powered vehicle, allegedly transporting teak from Mahamaya Reserve Forest under Khoraghat Forest Range.Police arrested Abul Hussain, Rakib Hussain and Sahinur Islam after they allegedly attempted to flee. The vehicle and logs were seized.Residents alleged that valuable trees were regularly felled and smuggled from protected and proposed reserve forests, including Mahamaya and Tipkai. They accused the forest department of failing to act despite the alleged activities occurring near the Khoraghat Forest Range Office.Police earlier arrested several people over allegations of illegal transportation of trees from the historic Mahamaya Temple premises.Aranya Suraksha Samiti, Asom, secretary-general Haricharan Das criticised the alleged felling.“It is one of the richest forest divisions in Assam in biodiversity and sustaining numerous avifauna, fauna and flora in the BTR, but of late, due to negligence on the part of the forest department, the rich biodiversity of the forest is being destroyed by the passing days,” Das said.The organisation urged Assam forest minister Jayanta Malla Baruah to take decisive action to stop forest destruction.
