Forest officials seize 87 logs at Hebri
Udupi: Forest officials have seized 87 wooden logs that were buried in the soil at Kopparagundi, near Hebri, in Karkala taluk on Sunday.
The officials have booked a case against Karkala Taluk Panchayat member Amrith Kumar Shetty of BJP and his brother Ashok Kumar Shetty in this regard.
The Forest officials dug the surface using the earth mover and retrieved the timber, estimated to be worth Rs 10 lakh. Of the logs seized, 43 belonged to mangium tree and 44 belonged to acacia trees.
Amrith Kumar Shetty claimed that two years ago, lightning had struck the trees around his house, so he had deposited them to use it in future.
Hebri RFO Muniraj, after taking charge as RFO last year, had registered more than 60 cases against illegal sale of forest produce.