HABIGANJ — A group of 50 to 60 armed intruders fired shots to terrify forest guards and felled 20 to 25 trees in the Rema-Kalenga reserve forest in Habiganj’s Chunarughat upazila in the early hours of Friday, officials said.
The incident occurred about 3:30 a.m. Friday in one of the country’s major forests, the Habiganj forest division said.
Md. Zainul Abedin, assistant conservator of forests in Habiganj, confirmed the incident to Prothom Alo. “We are short of manpower. That is why a gang of 50 to 60 forest robbers entered the forest, created panic by firing into the air with firearms and carried out this incident. An investigation is underway,” he said.
The 1,800-acre reserve forest contains teak and various other species of trees. Tree-cutting and other crimes have been occurring in the forest recently, officials said.
According to the forest department, 50 to 60 intruders entered through the area near Himania bazaar at about 3:30 a.m. They first fired into the air. When guards rushed to the scene on hearing the shots, the intruders also fired at them. The guards returned fire. The guards eventually had to retreat as the intruders chased them. The gang then cut down 20 to 22 teak trees one by one and fled in tractors. Senior forest department officials visited the site Friday morning after the incident became known.
Abdul Khaleq, the ranger of Rema-Kalenga, said the guards fell back when the intruders fired at them because only three guards were on duty at the time while the intruders were well-organized. “The robbers could not take many trees. They took 20 to 22 teak and acacia trees. We have been able to recover some. The intruders used modern saws. With these saws, a tree can be cut in three to four minutes,” he said.
Zainul Abedin said it was difficult to protect such a large forest with so few staff. Forest officers and guards in the area were all new to the post, he said, which was why the incident occurred before they could react. He said work was underway to determine how many trees the intruders had cut and to investigate. Legal action was being processed, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report