DHENKANAL: In a shocking incident, Dhenkanal divisional forest officer (DFO) Prakash Chand Gogineni came under attack by members of the stone mafia in a forest near Kurumatangi village, located adjacent to Kapilash sanctuary, around 18 km from the district headquarters town late on Saturday night.
Gogineni who stood his ground suffered minor injuries. Police have arrested six persons in this connection.
Sources said, Gogineni was out on night patrol in Sadar forest when he spotted a truck suspiciously plying in the area. He stopped the truck bearing registration number OR-04-E-3415 which was laden with stones illegally mined from an area nearby.
He asked the truck driver to show required documents which the latter failed to produce. While Gogineni was about to seize the truck, the stone smugglers heckled him and one of them hit his head with a brick. Despite the attack, the DFO and his driver held their position and informed the forest staff patrolling nearby to reach the spot.
While the attackers fled leaving the vehicle on the road, the patrol staff reached the spot and shifted the DFO to the district headquarters hospital. The vehicle was also seized. Gogineni sustained minor injuries on his head in the attack and was discharged after being administered first-aid.
Subsequently, police arrested Akshya Behera, Pradeep Swain, Sudhansu Rout, Jatia Dehury, Prabhakar Moharana and Abhimanyu Rout of the village in this connection.An FIR has been lodged with Sadar police. Dhenkanal SDPO Suryamani Pradhan said the matter is under investigation and more arrests will be made soon.
Back in December 2020, the district’s stone mafia had brutally attacked seven forest field staff on patrol duty during a raid at an illegal mine at Karadabani forest in Dhenkanal forest division on Saturday. One of the forest protection squad members had sustained multiple injuries on head in the attack.
The illegal stone smugglers had also snatched a service revolver from one of the forest guards and cell phones of other staff before fleeing the spot. Mining at Karadabani is illegal as it is a revenue land.