Kerala - Kottayam   

Forester attacked

Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM: A Forest Department official, Jeomon Thomas (28), was seriously wounded when he was attacked by members of the sandal `mafia' in the Marayur range in Idukki district in the early hours of Saturday. Thomas suffered serious head injuries when he, along with his colleagues, tried to overpower two persons who were engaged in cutting down a sandal tree.

According to Forest officials, Joemon, a forest guard at the Marayur range, was part of a night patrol team roaming the area on Friday night. When the patrol reached Illickal, near Pallanad, by 1.30 a.m. it heard someone cutting the sandal tree inside the reserve. Though the patrol party could identify the culprits, they ran away. The party then called for reinforcements and chased the miscreants.

The two culprits, Manikantan and Chilambarasan, have been arrested.

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