Palamu superintendent of police Ajay Linda took strong exception to the acts of the so called Gram Van Surakccha Samiti (read village forest protection committee) of Manatu whose one member Gorakh Ram and his few accomplices indulged in unlawful activities in the dead of night in the name of ‘protection and conservation of trees’ but in reality ‘ these people indulged in criminal activities contrary to what they were so meant for leading to firing with an Air Gun and injuries to Gorakh Ram said sources.
Linda said, “On the night of Saptami this Gorakh Ram, a member of the Gram Van Surakchha Samiti (GVSS) and few of his men intercepted two tractor trolleys laden with timbers at Hathiya Pathal in Manatu in the dead of night and are alleged to have demanded money for felling of trees and its transportation of logs of wood in which a brawl began leading to the single shot firing in air with an Air Gun ostensibly by the timber smugglers then.”
Gorakh Ram sustained splinter injuries in this firing from the Air Gun by the timber smugglers. One splinter got embedded in his chin while the other scratched past his stomach. He is undergoing treatment in a hospital in Ranchi said Manatu police officer in charge Santosh Kumar Singh.
Linda quipped, “If Gorakh Ram and his men had this information of shipment of illegally felled trees’ timber in the dead of night he should have informed Manatu police about it to raid and stop the shipment of timber but how come that he and few others went out at night travelling down 6 Kms from their houses at Pasiya to Hathiya Pathal jungle where this episode occurred.” Ram’s intention and motive are both self profiting SP added.
The SP said, “Our Manatu police’s preliminary investigation has found that Gorakh Ram and Co had an ulterior motive behind this interception of timber trolleys at night with not even a remote concern for how the trees were felled and logged out so except for extraction of money from timber smugglers for this illegal felling of trees & its timber’s transportation.”
Linda said, “I have spoken to divisional forest officer of Medininagar asking him to come clean on this matter as to whether there exists a nexus between the Gram Van Surakchha Samiti, Manatu based forest personnel and timber smugglers. One will have to own responsibility for this.” SP said DFO has been asked to review its GVSS panel as it has more dubious men than any committed to save forest and trees.
OC Manatu Santosh K Singh said timber of Jharkhand’s trees is smuggled to Salaiyya in Bihar where are many furniture selling shops. He said Manatu’s timber is also smuggled to Jharkhand Chatra’s sub urban markets.
Santosh added, Our police seized both the tractor trolleys and retrieved 30 huge logs of Geejan timber and a case has been instituted against the timber smugglers, tractor owner and Gorakh Ram.”
He said there are 22 members on the GVSS adding one of the two tractor trolleys laden with stolen timber fell in a water body which was rertrieved after great many hours of hard labour.
