Assam: Large stash of illegal timber recovered from Dihing Patkai, 4 arrested

In a major breakthrough, forest officials on Monday apprehended four timber smugglers from Dihing Patkai National Park in Assam's Dibrugarh district.

The arrested persons have been identified as Babul Nirmoliya, Jikir Orang, Sobhit Sarma, and Tosen Bora. They were accused of cutting down trees in the national park.

Meanwhile, the forest officials have also recovered a considerable amount of unlawfully harvested timber in their possession.

Timber smugglers are said to be operating with the help of some political leaders in the Dehing Patkai areas. An illegal bench mill was discovered in Mohanbari, Dibrugarh district, last month.

During the raid, a modern wood-cutting machine, as well as a large quantity of wood, were seized.

Dehing Patkai National Park is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia district of Assam. The National Park in Assam comprises the pristine forests along the Assam-Arunachal interstate boundary which is classified as the Assam Valley Tropical Wet Evergreen Forest.

The 7th National park in Assam, Dehing-Patkai, has unique faunal and floral diversity. It was recognized by the state government in 2004 when 111.19 sq km of the area was designated as Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Environment and Forest Minister of Assam, Parimal Suklabaidya announced that Dehing-Patkai has been declared as the seventh national park of Assam. The notification regarding the same was declared on June 9, 2021.

Assam got its 7th National Park within two weeks, after Raimona National Park in the Bodoland Territorial Region was notified as the sixth national park on World Environment Day on June 5, 2021.