November 08, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 26, 1428

MANSEHRA, Nov 7: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), NWFP, has arrested two officials of the forest department following detection of a big financial scam in 56 joint forest management committees (JFMCs) in Oghi tehsil, Dawn has learnt.

Sources said that a team of the NAB which had started the investigation into the illegal cutting of forests trees in Oghi tehsil arrested the district forest officer (DFO) of Tanawal forest division, Bahader Sheir, and former DFO Jamshad Khan and shifted them to Peshawar to take their physical remand.

Sources said that four other officials of the Mansehra forest department had already been arrested in this illegal cutting of precious wood and financial scam.

Sources said that in the wake of October 8, 2005 earthquake various high-level inquiries were launched in the most affected Balakot tehsil, Oghi and Mansehra, but so far no arrest has been made.

JFMCs had been constituted to stop the illegal forest cuttings and plantation of more trees were hijacked by the timber mafia in Mansehra, Battagram and Kohistan districts and illegal cuttings of the exotic tress caused the loss of the billions of rupees.