It is a weekday, however the forest division’s vary workplace in Lateri, a city in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district, bears a abandoned look. Almost 20 days after the division’s workers had been booked for homicide over the demise of a youth, issues appear to have modified endlessly. In a mixture of low morale and concern—each of the federal government whose forests they’re to guard, and members of the Bhil tribal neighborhood to which the deceased youth belonged—the workers members on the vary have stopped carrying their uniforms. They have additionally surrendered their official weapons, refusing to hold them till the federal government ensures them some authorized safety.
Lateri is without doubt one of the largest timber smuggling hotspots in MP. Vidisha district, which was in pre-Independence occasions a part of Scindia territory, had among the finest, predominantly teak, forests within the state. Not anymore. Rampant felling, fuelled by greed and demand for timber in and out of doors the state, has decimated the forests over time. Clearly pushed by political motives, each the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress don’t appear to be urgent for robust motion towards timber smugglers—quite, they’re baying for the blood of the companies entrusted to guard the forests.
On August 9, round 9 pm, Lateri South Range Officer (RO) Vinod Singh obtained a tip-off about timber smugglers being energetic in Khattyapura village, some 15 km from the vary headquarters. Singh, after calling for backup from Abhijeet Swami, the RO of the neighbouring jurisdiction, left for the spot with two automobiles and 5 different staffers, one in all whom was carrying a government-issued Mossberg tactical pump-action shotgun loaded with No. 1 shot pellets. At Khattyapura, the group intercepted the timber smugglers, in a convoy of 10 bikes, who had loaded logs of teakwood. While the forest division claims they had been pelted with rocks and therefore needed to fireplace in self-defence, the smugglers allege that they had been ambushed and fired on. Chain Singh, 32, one of many smugglers, died on the spot, and 5 others, three of them his brothers and two cousins, had been injured.
Unaware of the demise, the forest division group returned to Lateri later at evening. Around 12 am, the injured arrived on the police station with Chain’s physique and filed a criticism.
All hell broke unfastened when the accused had been discovered to be members of the Bhil neighborhood. A case of homicide was registered towards Nirmal Ahirwar, the deputy ranger of the Kotra chowki below whose jurisdiction Khattyapura falls, moreover different unknown individuals. All six personnel who had been there that evening, together with Vinod Singh, are absconding whereas Ahirwar, denied bail by the classes court docket, is in jail. The subsequent day, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, even earlier than asserting a probe, ordered a compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the deceased and Rs 5 lakh every for the three injured brothers. After the homicide case was filed towards Ahirwar, the police registered a case below the comparatively weak Section 353 of the IPC towards the timber smugglers. The forest division additionally filed a POR or preliminary offence report—their equal of an FIR—towards unknown smugglers.
Clearly, the BJP, which has been pursuing a ‘tribal agenda’ nationally, was on the defensive, particularly for the reason that opposition Congress accused the ruling social gathering of being anti-tribal after the firing. The divisional forest officer has been transferred and the federal government has ordered a probe by a single-member fee of a retired excessive court docket choose. While politics took over the incident, the core challenge—timber smuggling—has been brushed apart each by the BJP and the Congress.
MP has among the finest teak on the planet, which proceed to be sought-after within the furnishings business. The authorities controls all commerce within the valuable wooden since it’s a nationalised commodity. Officially priced at Rs 45,000 per cubic metre, it’s offered for as little as Rs 5,000 by smugglers. While the state has been grappling with the problem of unlawful felling for years, western MP is worst affected. Large areas have been cleaned of teak timber within the districts of Jhabua, Alirajpur, Khandwa and even Betul and Hoshangabad. Felling is a serious concern within the central districts of Sehore and Raisen too. Of late, Vidisha district and particularly its 4 forest ranges—Lateri South, Lateri North, Shamshabad and Sironj—have been badly hit. Around 20 per cent of MP’s complete forest space is roofed by teak timber whereas roughly 45 per cent of the forests in Vidisha district have these timber.
A complete of 829 instances of unlawful felling had been registered in Vidisha in 2020, adopted by 638 in 2021, and 217 instances until July this 12 months by which timber value lakhs of rupees has been seized. The district has misplaced almost 30 per cent of its forest space to encroachment and unlawful felling. Trees are seen solely on the hills with the flat lands being below cultivation.
The punishment for unlawful felling and transportation can be not a deterrent. The accused are often booked below the Indian Forest Act, 1927, which attracts a most sentence of six months and is definitely bailable. However, the state authorities, by means of an modification, has raised the high-quality from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000. The alleged timber smuggler who was killed on August 9 had a earlier case of felling towards him. The reply maybe lies within the extra stringent legal guidelines such because the Wild Life (Protection) Act and the Biological Diversity Act. Relevant sections below each the acts are non-bailable.
The Modus Operandi
Timber smuggling has taken the type of organised crime in MP, working by means of inter-state gangs. An intricate community of tree cutters, transporters, car lifters and shoppers work in conjunction. The gang members, round 50-70 on 25-40 bikes, establish a forest. They return to the location round 2 pm, carrying axes, petrol-powered and electrical saws and weapons similar to country-made pistols. After slicing and shaping the timber in planks referred to as sillis, they transfer out after darkish, delivering the products throughout the state border.
There are two important areas the place the illegally lower teak is offered—Manohar Thana in Jhalawar, Rajasthan, and Suthaliya within the Rajgarh district of MP. The latter has various furnishings makers, whereas on the former, merchants are stated to assemble to purchase timber, which is then provided elsewhere. Timber is smuggled into Rajasthan on bikes, with the pillion riders at occasions holding three to 4 planks over distances starting from 100 to 120 km.
Stolen bikes are an integral a part of the racket. “Bikes lifted from urban areas such as Indore and Bhopal are sold for as little as Rs 5,000 in villages. Registration and chassis numbers are deleted and even when impounded the bikes are a dead end to find the culprits because there are no records,” says Lateri North RO Swami. The Lateri police had busted a gang not too long ago and arrested Nirbhay, an area provider of stolen bikes. “We recovered 14 planks of teak and one bike from the spot where the alleged shooting took place. The bike has no details on it and cannot be traced to anyone,” says Lateri police station in-charge Kashiram Kushwaha.
The different ‘development’ that’s aiding the racket is the community of village roads that has come up below the PM Gram Sadak Yojana. These roads assist the criminals keep away from taking the highways the place police presence is increased.
Protectors cornered
With morale hitting all-time low, forest division staffers lament their helplessness. “We have stopped wearing uniforms and have surrendered weapons. We are scared to venture into the forests. How do we fight to protect the forests when the government files cases against us even though they are the ones who gave us the guns?” asks a deputy ranger in Vidisha requesting anonymity.
Ajay Pandey, the conservator of forests, Vidisha, toured the affected areas after the incident and wrote again to his superiors flagging the low morale. He has additionally sought higher coordination among the many police, income and forest officers, moreover asking for 2 battalions of the state particular armed drive (SAF) in Vidisha. Pandey could also be hoping for an excessive amount of—the present firm of SAF deployed within the neighbouring Raisen district is about to be withdrawn by the police. Due to the reluctance of native forest officers to enterprise out, the workers from the neighbouring forest divisions are despatched for patrolling in Lateri. Pandey says they’ve been chatting with the neighbouring villagers. “They have assured us help to end illegal felling as forests are a heritage that belongs to them too,” he provides.
Legal Issues over Firearms
Can the forest division workers use firearms? A letter from the state’s dwelling division in 2011 to all police models states that they’ll use government-provided weapons in self-defence below Section 197(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Further, it states that no case will likely be registered towards the forest division workers once they fireplace a weapon until a magisterial probe finds them responsible of unwarranted firing. In the Lateri incident, the police filed a homicide case even earlier than an enquiry was introduced—in violation of the federal government orders. Earlier too, forest personnel have been booked for firing their weapons.
Shotguns surrendered by forest division personnel stocked on the Lateri Range Office; (Photo: Mujeeb Faruqui)
The forest officers examine the Lateri incident to the one which befell within the neighbouring Guna district in May when the police shot lifeless three poachers following an earlier encounter that had claimed the lives of three policemen. While one of many poachers died on the time of the firefight, two others had been killed days later in one other incident, with the police claiming that they fired in self-defence. This led to a faux encounter petition within the court docket. However, the state stood by the police officers. “Our staff also fired in self-defence when pelted with rocks, but they are not being protected,” says a Lateri South Range official. In his utility to the police, RO Vinod Singh earlier than absconding had talked about that his patrolling social gathering was pelted with stones, given demise threats and was fired on too.
“What happened in Lateri is unfortunate. A forest department staffer dying in the line of duty gets Rs 10 lakh as compensation. Getting that amount too requires a massive effort. I am not saying anything against the government that employs me but if the government had given us protection under the CrPC, the deputy ranger should not have been arrested. We only demand that the government stand by its own order issued for protecting us,” says Shishupal Ahirwar, president of the MP Rangers Association. He provides that as long as the federal government fails to guard them, the workers won’t carry weapons. Is unlawful felling on such an enormous scale potential with out the forest division’s complicity? “If the department was involved, nothing would have been left,” Ahirwar replies.
An related challenge is the dearth of weapons coaching for the forest workers. Of the 19 pump-action shotguns on the Lateri vary, just one is purposeful. The state-of-the-art tactical shotguns are bundled collectively within the retailer room, a few of them damaged and others rusted past recognition. The workers has by no means obtained the promised firearms apply. The forest division utility to the police argues that the accidents sustained by the timber smugglers counsel {that a} forest staffer fired within the air, misjudging the deadly extent of the unfold of the pellets. “We were told that we would be getting firing practice, but it has not taken place. We wanted to get the guns repaired but don’t know of a gunsmith who can do so,” says a forest official.
Ramesh Gupta , the principal Chief conservator of forests, MP, says the problem must be resolved. “I have written to the DGP and the government to clarify why a case has been registered when the government had, through circulars, said that protection to forest staff would be accorded under Section 197 of the CrPC,” he provides.
Back in Raipura village, the place the household of the alleged timber smuggler lives, there may be grief. Chain Singh has left behind 4 minor kids. “We had gone to the forest to fetch wood for the boundary of our cornfields when we were surrounded by forest department staff and fired on. I was riding pillion with Chain who died on the spot,” says Mahendra, one in all Chain’s brothers who sustained pellet accidents. He has returned dwelling from Bhopal after therapy. The household has round 4 acres of land, however they haven’t obtained a patta below the Forest Rights Act. “I don’t know what really happened that night, but four kids have lost a father and a woman her husband,” says Naran, brother-in-law of the deceased. For the second, although, the deadlock could have a bearing on how MP’s forests needs to be guarded.