KP govt transfers two forest officials, orders investigation

 Action against timber smugglers

MINGORA: The action against influential timber smugglers backfired as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday transferred two Forest Department officials and launched an inquiry against them.

Senior District Forest Officer (SDFO) Shehryar Khan and District Forest Officer Shaukat Fayyaz had gone to the forest area in Matta tehsil on information about the presence of timber smugglers in the area in December last.

The Forest Department employees including Muhammad Hayat, Shah Kamin Khan and Habibullah had reportedly misbehaved and stopped their two officers from inspecting the area and had turned them back.

The Forest Department had then launched an inquiry into the incident and the alleged links of its employees with timber smugglers.

Following the inquiry, the Forest department had sacked the three employees from service and arrested the village council nazim for his involvement in illegal cutting of trees in the forest.

Later, the provincial government issued the transfer orders of SDFO Shehryar Khan and DFO Shaukat Fayyaz and had ordered an inquiry against them.The inquiry team had completed the investigation and dispatched its report to the government.The action against the two officials caused concern and created doubts in the minds of the local people.