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Journalism of Courage
SURAT, July 25: The Dangs district forest department recently managed to save teak wood worth lakhs from being smuggled from the Maadaliya jungles of North Dangs when its personnel fired seventeen rounds in the air to disperse a group of 200 teak-wood smugglers who had entered the forest to cut wood.
Though the smugglers, attacked the forest department personnel, who were accompanied by a police party, with stones and lathis — forcing the raiding party to open fire — the accused later fled leaving behind a huge pile of cut wood. Range forester Chiman Avsu Gaikwad then lodged a police complaint in the Ahwa police station on Saturday afternoon.
According to the complainant, some activities were noticed at compartment 339 and its adjoining areas of Singaan range in the North forest division on July 19 and 20. However, the forest beat guards managed to chase away about 50 smugglers.
But the smugglers later regrouped and began cutting down teak wood in the same area forcing a 40-strong police and forest party to raid the spot again on Friday afternoon. But on seeing the raiding party, the mob rushed towards them with axes and also pelted stones, injuring a couple of guards in the process.
It was then that RFO Pawar fired two rounds from his service revolver into the air, which was was followed by forest guards firing another 15 rounds from their 12-bore rifles into the air. Hearing the shots, all the smugglers fled from the spot into the jungles, leaving behind a huge quantity of cut wood, which was then seized.
According to Circle forest conservator (Surat circle) Sureshchandra Pant, with an abundance of teak in the Dangs forests, tribals from across the border, especially from Maharashtra, frequented the forests to smuggle wood. “Although a Navapur saw mill was recently sealed by forest department and a truck was intercepted, the problem persisted,” Pant admitted.
According to Department officials, one of the reasons why it was difficult to arrest the culprits was because the links between tribals from Gujarat and the adjoining states. “It is at many times even difficult to identify them as there is a political border, but no social border. This is true in the case of the entire Vyara-Uchhal-Nizar forest belt that has a common border with Maharashtra and forests along the border.
Meanwhile, the Dangs police have stationed a few policemen at the spot where the mob tried to assault the forest party, sources said.
