NAB arrests seven persons on charges of extensive illegal cutting of precious trees
Staff Report

Islamabad—The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested seven persons including officials of NWFP Forest Department on charges of extensive illegal cutting of precious trees and causing loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer.
The accused include Forest Range Officer Farhad Sajid, four Forest Guards Muhammad Shaukat, Khwaj Muhammad, Ghulam Muhammad, Abdullah Jan, and two timber smugglers Muhammad Afzal and Munawar Shah.
The timber mafia was involved in cutting of government forest reserves of Agrore Tanawal Forest Division Mansehra, spread over hundreds of acres and contains valuable Kail and Chir species.
According to details, the timber mafia carried out illegal cutting of 2,385 trees voluming 194,000 cft in the last 2 years which was not reported by the Forest officials concerned.
During the course of inquiry by the NAB, it was revealed that local black marketers not only cut and sold the timber in the local market but the same timber was also given legal cover by the Forest Department through registration of Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMC). The JFMCs were got registered and working plans were prepared with fake data by showing exaggerated growing stock of privately owned forest (Mazrooa), providing an opportunity to the private owners to cut the timber which did not exist on ground. The quota was being filled by cutting the government reserve forests and transported to the market at Havelian under a legal cover resulting into colossal loss to the government forest.
The inquiry has almost been completed by NAB and more arrests are likely to be made shortly.