Key suspect who ‘stole’ 33 trees from Mattewara forest traced to Mohali dist

The Forest Department has traced the suspect who axed and smuggled 33 Acacia Catechu (khair) trees from the Mattewara forest in Ludhiana.

The Forest Department carried out an internal probe and after identifying the key suspect, Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Mullanpur in Mohali district, got registered a case against him under the Indian Forest Act and the BNS. Five unidentified suspects were also added to the FIR.

Rajesh Gulati, Divisional Forest Officer, on whose complaint a case was registered against the suspect, said the patrolling team of the Forest Department noticed a theft of 33 Acacia Katechu (khair trees), which were chopped and loaded onto the vehicle. After the theft, the department also initiated investigation and scanned CCTV cameras to identify the suspect. Trees were chopped and stolen on the intervening night of February 8 and 9, 2024.

“The Forest Department have scanned many CCTV cameras and after months of investigation, a Tata Canter vehicle (bearing registration HR 68 B 0913) was traced at a toll barrier on the way to Mohali from Ludhiana. The CCTV captured trees loaded on the vehicle. After taking footage from the toll barrier, a formal complaint was lodged and during probe, Kulwinder was found to be the key suspect and on Friday, a case was registered against the suspect,” the DFO said.

He claimed that stolen trees carry medicinal qualities and value of the same could be around Rs 5 lakh. The department probe suggested thieves usually sell these trees to some buyers in Himachal Pradesh. “Once the key suspect is nabbed, the police will find out to whom he had sold the trees and at what price. Buyers of the trees may also face police action,” Gulati said.

Investigating officer SI Paramjit Singh from Meharban police station said after registering a case, further investigation was launched by the police and efforts were on to nab the suspects. Once the key suspect was arrested, remaining suspects would be identified and arrested in the case.