Shahjahan Afzal | Kupwara, September 08
Police has seized around 300 feet of furnished timber from the premises of sub district Hospital Sogam, Lolab of Kupwara district on Wednesday.
The local police say that the furniture made of green wood was illegally ferried to the area in connivance with some forest officials.
Police has registered a case under FIR no 43/2010 US 379 RPC and 6 of Forest Act to launch the investigations to establish the circumstances and hands behind the alleged illicit trade.
With the police investigations in preliminary stage, sources said that some officials in forest department and Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Company constructing the hospital block are believed to be behind this trade.
Sources said that a day back the sub contractor of JKPCC carrying out the construction of the hospital block had ferried this furniture from a joinery mill in Kupwara town to Sogam. Soon after police raid the top forest officials reached the spot to claim the timber which police declined, pointing to the suspicious involvement of the forest officials.
“We sensed something fishy, there ought to be proper documents of transportation, but there was none,” In charge SHO Sogam, Sajad Ahmad said, “When forest and JKPCC officials failed to produce transport and other necessary documents of the furniture, it prompted us to seize the furniture”.
Sajad alleged that instead of seizing the undocumented timber the forest officials on duty at Zangli and Wavoora have facilitated safe passage for the furniture laden truck to reach Sogam.
Despite repeated attempts DFO Kamraj was not available for his comments in his defence.
