Forest Department Nabs Seven Members

Hoshiarpur/ Oct19 /Daljeet Ajnoha— Acting on directions from Chief Conservator of Forests Dr Sanjeev Tiwari, Conservator of Forests, North Circle, Vikram Singh Kundra (IFS), and Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jarnail Singh, the Forest Department has intensified patrols to curb the illegal felling of khair trees.
Under the supervision of Range Officer Jaspal Singh, a department team found that eight khair trees had been illegally cut in the Khadkan forest area on the night of October 15–16, while one tree was felled in the Phalahi area.
Following intensified surveillance, the team apprehended seven members of an alleged khair-theft gang on October 18. The accused were caught along with illegally cut khair wood, officials said.
Range Officer Jaspal Singh said a case has been registered against the accused under FIR No. 192, dated October 18, 2026, and further legal proceedings have been initiated.
He added that similar enforcement drives had earlier been conducted on the directions of then DFO Dharmvir Dheru and Deputy DFO Venkatesh Shiwale, during which persons involved in illegal felling were also apprehended.
The operation was carried out by Block Officers Kuldeep Singh, Jasveer Pal, Balwant Kumar and Jaswinder Singh; Forest Guards Gurpreet Singh, Akash, Vishal Singh and Krishan Kumar; and labourers Tahal Singh and Krishan Chand