BAJAUR: The police on Tuesday seized a large quantity of illegal timber in the hilly Arang area of Utmankhel tehsil.

The precious timber, loaded on two mini trucks, was confiscated during a raid conducted by a team of Arang police station led by SHO Abdur Raziq, said an official statement.

The statement issued from the district police officer’s office said the timber illegally cut from a local forest was being supplied to Khar Bazaar by someone when the police intervened.

It said the people involved in the timber smuggling managed to flee just before the police action.

The statement said that the timber meant to be used in the construction of houses was later handed over to forest department officials.

This was the second such attempt of supplying illegally cut timber to Khar Bazaar over the past few days to be foiled by the police, the statement mentioned, saying the police officials have been advised to remain vigilant to discourage the timber smuggling.

Meanwhile, an official of the forest department said that they were trying their best to combat the illegal timber trade in the district, which he said had witnessed a significant increase over the past couple of months.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, the official alleged that some influential people were involved in the illegal business, saying the cutting of forests both natural and established by the forest department was unlawful as it badly affected the environment.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025