Three people were arrested by the forest department on Tuesday after cutting a ton of bamboo (RF) in the Reserve Forest (RF) in Melarasanpattu Village near Vellore, near Jawadhu Hills along the reserve forest (RF) in Melarasanpattu Village near Vellore.
Forest officials said the arrested person was identified as K. Chakravarthy (67), B. Ravi (52) and C. Santhosh Kumar (36). They are residents of Vellore. They are carpenters.
The initial inquiry showed that a forest team led by Forest Range official G. Venketachalam patrolled the area as part of the RF’s regular patrol within the Odugathur forest range on the hill, when they heard of woodcut sounds inside the RF.
They immediately stopped patrol jeeps in the RF suburbs and searched the thick forest area on foot. The team noticed that the three were busy cutting bamboo trees into wood logs with machines. When the gang saw the Forest Team, the gang tried to escape.
However, the Forest team surrounded. The team grabbed the cutting machine, chopped wood logs and handheld sawing machine. The three were arrested under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 for invasion and theft of forest property. Detection is underway.
publishing – April 30, 2025 12:44 AM IST
