GUJRAT: The administration on Monday sealed at least 14 firewood depots and confiscated stolen wood worth Rs2 million in the areas surrounding the forest of Rakh Pabbi Sarkar.

The forest is spread over 38,000 acre land located between Kharian and Sara-i-Alamgir.

Some arrests have also been made during the crackdown whereas criminal cases lodged against the people involved in the illegal business of cutting of trees.

The fresh crackdown was launched in the wake of the illegal felling of trees by a mafia involving officials of the provincial forest department from Pabbi forest around a week ago as more people were found involved in the illegal activity.

The forest officials have now identified at least 60 to 70 firewood depots existing within three kilometer radius of the Pabbi forest.

Sara-i-Alamgir Assistant Commissioner Shoaib Nissoana told Dawn that he along with the Chakwal Range Management divisional forest officer (DFO), who holds the additional charge of Kharian range, raided 14

firewood depots located very close to the Pabbi forest where more than 80 per cent of the stocked firewood had been stolen from the forest as per investigation report of different agencies. He said five people -- Muhammad Gul Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ulfat Mehmood, Arslan Jabbar and Mudassir Nazim -- were arrested from as many firewood depots whereas management of nine depots escaped before the raid.

He said 14 depots were sealed and stolen forest wood and other machinery confiscated. He said the recovered wood was valued at Rs2 million and more such raids would be conducted in the area which, according to a report, had some 60 to 70 such depots.

The district government in collaboration with the provincial forest department has planned to formally auction the confiscated firewood. As many as 14 different cases under sections 379 and 411 of PPC have been lodged against the owners of depots with Saddar Sara-i-Alamgir (12 cases) and Bulani (two) police stations on the report of AC Nissoana.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2016