Forest committee secretary arrested in Achham for felling trees using fake documents

Achham: A person has been arrested on charges of illegally felling trees in the Panchulli Chaitepatal Community Forest Committee area of Kamalbazar Municipality-5, Achham, by using fake documents

The arrested individual has been identified as Chhatraraj Timalsena, secretary of the forest committee. According to Janak Upadhyay, Chief of the Division Forest Office, Achham, Timalsena obtained permission to sell chotro (stems, leaves, bark) products from the Forest Division Office, Mangalsen, using forged documents in the name of the Panchulli Chaitepatal Community Forest Users Committee.

Following a letter from the Division Forest Office, Timalsena was taken into custody at the District Police Office, and the investigation process is underway. As per the Forest Act, 2076, cases involving losses exceeding Rs 200,000 and imprisonment of more than one year must be taken to court, while other cases fall under the jurisdiction of the Forest Division.

Authorities have reported that 4,000 kilos of chotro have been illegally extracted from the community forest. With the market price set at 10 bigo per kilo, a fine of Rs 40,000 will be imposed, and further action will be taken under the same legal provisions if additional offenses are uncovered during the investigation. An inquiry into the possible involvement of other individuals in the preparation of fake documents for forest produce permission is also ongoing.