Three persons, including a forest guard, were booked for cutting down trees and stealing the wood from a forest range and later submitting a false report of theft to the forest department.
The accused were identified as forest guard Harjeet Singh and Binder Singh and Raja Singh of Nalina Khurd village.
Patiala division forest officer, in his complaint to the police, said that Harjeet and the two other accused cut down Sheesham trees from a forest range in Nalina Khurd, falling under Patiala division, and later lodged a false complaint that the trees had been stolen. It was learnt during investigation, he said, that that the three of them had cut down the trees and sold the wood.
The Mullepur police have booked a case against the accused under sections 182 (false information), 379 (theft), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. No arrests have been made in the case so far.