BESUT: What was supposed to be a surveillance trip to check on illegal logging near the Pelagat Forest Reserve here turned into a life-threatening experience for a team of unarmed Forestry officers, when a group of men hijacked three lorries and a backhoe which the officers had seized earlier.
The officers, who were driving the vehicles to the Pasir Akar police station, were held at knifepoint by the men. They were forced to surrender the vehicles before the assailants sped off into an oil palm estate.
The enforcement unit officers had earlier gone into the forest reserve following a tip-off from villagers that two backhoes were operating there. They had wanted to survey the area using a drone.
However, while moving towards the forest reserve, the officers stumbled upon a lorry filled with logs and arrested a suspect about 7.30pm.
The officers then called the Besut Forestry Office for back-up as they were unarmed. They suspected that there were more lorries carrying illegally-felled logs.
They continued along the trail and stumbled upon a man removing logs using a backhoe. The man eluded the officers about 8pm.
Not long after, another lorry filled with logs stopped about 30m from the backhoe, stuck in the muddy trail. The driver escaped before the officers could reach him.
Minutes later, a man on a scrambler with a chainsaw tied to its rear seat arrived. The 34-year-old man, from Kampung Batu 13 here, surrendered to the officers.
While waiting for the back-up team, the 34-year-old man tried to escape and a struggle ensued, enabling the other suspect in the car to make his escape.
After the back-up team arrived, the officers secured the 34-year-old suspect and drove the three lorries and the backhoe out of the area. They were then stopped by men armed with “golok”. The armed men hijacked all the seized vehicles.
A report was lodged at the Pasir Akar police station before midnight and the man, who was arrested earlier, was later brought to the Kampung Raja district police station.
State Forestry Department director Datuk Ahmad Fadzil Abdul Majid said all but one of his men were unharmed.
He said the only officer injured had several abrasions to his right hand.
“We believe that one of the most wanted illegal logging masterminds in Besut is behind this. As for the suspect (we arrested), we will charge him under Section 15 of the National Forestry Act 1984 for illegal possession of forest products.
“My men seized three chainsaws and components of an air gun. Police may also investigate the case under Section 353 of the Penal Code for using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty.
“Despite this incident, our men will continue to check on illegal logging as it affects the economy of the state.”