ILAM,Oct 1:  An unexpected encounter between armed forest guards and smugglers saw shots being fired in air at the Gaide Community Forest along the border of Ilam and Jhapa. When a team of forest guards from the Chulachuli Forest Subdivision saw some smugglers floating the Sakhuwa timber in a river in the forest, they fired shots in the air. 

The smugglers were floating the timber last night about 200 meters north of the Kankai bridge of Shivasatashi-10 in Jhapa. According to Chief District Office, Dhruv Bahadur Khadka, the team of forest guards fired air shots after the smugglers threw stones at them from across the river. 

“Despite the team's efforts to catch the smugglers, they managed to run away,” Khadka said.  “However, 2,605 cubic feet of Sakhuwa timber was recovered,” he said. The team of forest guards saw the smugglers floating the timber at around 9PM on Thursday, before encountering another group of smugglers at 2AM at the Maikhola River. 

About 29 cubic feet of timber was recovered from the second site after the smugglers ran away, Khadka informed Republica. Although the Gaide Community Forest falls in Ilam, the protection of the forest is done by the forest office in coordination with Jhapa forest authorities. 

 
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