Truck with plundered trees seized in Tangail

Foresters yesterday seized a truck loaded with 150 Sal trees in Karatia area of Tangail and arrested seven in this connection.

The arrestees are Ripon Haji, 50, of Dhandhania village, Abdul Hamid, 50, of Betua village, Julhas Khan, 45, Md Siraj, 28, and Shafiqul Islam, 25, of Kachua village in Sakhipur upazila, Dipok Das, 30, of Fulki village in Basail upazila of Tangail, and Ohidul Islam, 38, of Anayetnagar village under Fatullah upazila in Narayanganj.

Acting on a tip off, the forest officials seized the truck loaded with the Sal logs at Faria Cinema in Karatia in the early hours yesterday, said Harun-or-Rashid Khan, divisional forest officer in Tangail.

The truck was escorted by a car, he said, adding that the officials also seized the car and arrested three people in it. The four others were arrested in the truck, he said.

The foresters quizzed the arrestees but could not learn immediately from where the logs came and where they were heading to, he added.

The arrestees were produced before a court in Tangail after filing a case against them, the DFO informed.