The Forest Department has booked 296 cases in various forest ranges of the State in connection with the felling of trees on assigned lands, the State has informed the Kerala High Court.
It was in a petition seeking CBI probe into the felling incidents that the State submitted the statement.
The offences were registered under the provisions of the Kerala Forest (Prohibition of Felling of Trees Standing on Land Temporary or Permanently Assigned) Rules, 1995, and the Kerala Forest Act. The police have registered 10 cases in various police stations
Mahazars were drawn up in 405 incidents and the process of booking Occurrence Report in these incidents was progressing. A total of 791 cubic metre of wood had been seized so far. The seizure of substantial quantity of timber revealed that the investigation was on the right tract, submitted DIG Sreejith, who is heading the Special Investigation Team.
