PTR officer in Red hitlist for anti-kendu drive

Daltonganj: Rebels belonging to the outlawed CPI (Maoists) are targeting a senior Palamu Tiger Reserve officer for his drive against illegal kendu leaf trade, sources said, adding that the Latehar police have issued a written alert to the concerned officer asking him to be cautious while moving into the jungles.
Latehar SP Michael S Raj confirmed to have issued an alert note to this officer. He said the officer has been urged not to venture into areas like Chahal Chungru, Nawadeeh, Koochilla in Chhipadohar range of the tiger reserve.He also said police will provide adequate protection to the officer if he wants it.
The sources added that police recently intercepted a conversation between a Maoist revel and a kendu leaf racketeer in this regard. Plucking and transporting kendu leaves or any other minor forest produce from inside the tiger reserve has been banned by the Supreme Court. The sources said that the kendu leaf mafia give large sums of levy to the rebels and have their tacit support.
This summer, a massive consignment of kendu leaves was first plucked and transported and stored in barns. PTR officers conducted several raids and seized more than 700 standard bags of these leaves and filed cases under the Forest and Wildlife Protection Acts. This irked the powerful kendu leaf traders and operators, said the sources.