• Two suspects arrested,  backhoe machine seized

By B.G.Chaturanga- Anuradhapura   

 A two-acre land in a forest reserve has been stripped  naked by timber racketeers, and the forest conservators from  Anuradhapura range arrested two suspects.  

The trees have been felled in the Katugampolayagama  forest reserve in Anuradhapura. They seized a backhoe machine used in  felling trees.  

The main suspect was a businessman from Galpottegama in Anuradhapura. The driver of the backhoe from Saliyawewa.   

 Anuradhapura District Forest Conservator Sumith Swaris  said the proposed forest reserve was 1,652 acres in extent and that steps  had been taken for afforestation of the sites by sowing seeds from the air  with the help of the Air Force.   

 District Range Forest Conservator said that the proposed forest reserve was a highly sensitive environmental zone.   

 District Forest Conservator Sumith Swaris, Addl. Range  Forest Conservator Chinthani Gunasekara, Beat Conservator  H.D.A.Priyankara, and a group of field assistants carried out the raid  with the help of the STF (Special Task Force of the Police) team from  Ulukkulama camp under SI 556 K.A.K.R. Chamara.