The Shimla police today claimed to have arrested a man accused of cutting down over 400 trees in the Koti Forest Range of the state.
Bhup Ram was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Forest Officer, (Koti Range), Anu Thakur, on January 12 and after verification of revenue records, Deputy Superintendent of Police, City, Dinesh Sharma said.
Ram had claimed that he had cut down 416 trees as they were on his land. But, on checking records, it was found that the trees were illegally felled on forest land without permission from authorities, the officer said.
"Even if the trees were on private land, the offence was grave as permission was required even for cutting trees on such land," he said.
He has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Indian Forest Act, police said, adding that the trees were on 40 bighas of land in the range near the state capital.
The accused had removed the trees with the help of a machine, claiming he had permission from mining and forest official and the departments concerned. The police have also recovered the sleepers extracted from the felled trees and seized 33 bags of coal produced by burning the logs, the DSP said.
The police are also investigating whether officials were involved in the crime, said Sharma, claiming that Ram had confessed to cutting of the trees.
The felled trees include Baan, Deodar (Cedar), Chir (Pine). The incident had raised suspicion on forest officials as reports said that the felling of trees and its conversion into coal had been done over a period of time.
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