(IN):Forest mafia kills cop- Swift retaliation to raids

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Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080114/jsp/guwahati/story_8779419.jsp

 

*Forest mafia kills cop*

* - Swift retaliation to raids*

OUR CORRESPONDENT

 

*Nagaon, Jan. 13: *Forest smugglers who lost 1,000 cubic feet of ill-gotten

timber during police raids in Karbi Anglong exacted swift revenge by

lynching a havildar in the team when he was out shopping after a hard day's

work.

 

Prafulla Kajyung was at the Dhansiri daily market last evening when the gang

attacked him with sharp weapons in front of stunned shoppers. He died while

being taken to Diphu Civil Hospital, about 40km away.

 

Kajyung, 50, and his colleagues had spent two days helping forest department

employees seize as many as eight timber-laden trucks in the Dhansiri

reserve, the largest swathe of protected tropical/subtropical forest in the

whole of Asia and, ironically, also the one where felling is most rampant.

 

The slain havildar was to visit his village home in Alimur, near Gaurisagar

in Sivasagar district, to celebrate Magh Bihu with his family tomorrow. " We

got the bad news over phone last night just when we were waiting for him to

come home on leave, " brother Hemanta said on reaching Diphu today to receive

the body.

 

Karbi Anglong superintendent of police Anurag Tankha said Kajyung's murder

was a clear case of the timber mafia trying to get even. He said the forest

department required more manpower and weapons to combat smuggling. " The

shortage of forest personnel and the pitiable state of infrastructure

available to them have encouraged timber smuggling. Forest staff need

Kalashnikov rifles to be able to keep smugglers away and conserve Dhansiri's

green cover. "

 

Between 25 and 30 timber-laden trucks allegedly make their way from Karbi

Anglong to neighbouring Nagaland each day. " Timber is transported through

the Dhansiri river during the monsoon. In winter, the timber mafia uses

trucks to take the logs to Dimapur, " a source said.

 

Deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu said some smugglers killed Kajyung out of

frustration at not being able to dominate as they used to.

 

" Constant pressure from the police and the forest department have made life

difficult for them. We recently invoked Section 144 and deployed additional

security forces in Dhansiri, " he said.

 

The fatal attack on Kajyung was the second involving forest smugglers in

Karbi Anglong in the past 12 months. Last year, suspected Bangladeshi

migrants killed five Chakma encroachers inside Lankajan reserve forest over

a land dispute.

 

Karbi Anglong, Assam's largest district, has as many as 14 reserve forests.

Almost all these forests have lost substantial cover because of encroachment

and timber smuggling.

 

 

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