Case against 4 for illegal felling of 41 trees on govt land

Pilibhit: A case was filed on Tuesday against four people, including a woman, for illegally cutting 41 trees on govt land in Pilibhit's Phulaiya village. The action followed a complaint by Tej Bahadur, a lekhpal posted in Amarai tehsil, who alleged the accused had contracted a private timber dealer to cut the trees. Police have also named the contractor in the FIR.
Bahadur said the 6.4-hectare property is covered with trees. Among the felled trees were 32 fully grown Gutail, two giant Silk Cotton , and seven Cluster Fig. The trees were allegedly cut down by Sarvjeet Singh of Khalinabada village and Surendra Kaur of Phulaiya, who had given the contract to one Chaitanya Kumar of Bhura Kaimor and Babbu of Ainthpur. The two contractors felled the trees on March 30 and sold the timber. Bahadur learned of the illegal felling through a tip-off and confirmed it by inspecting the tree stumps.
SHO Rupa Visht said the four accused have been charged under relevant sections of the UP Protection of Trees Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.