Rautahat, October 15 Smuggling of timber has gone up massively with the ongoing general strike in the region for almost two months in Rautahat. A huge number of tress were chopped down as forest officials did not attend office and did not patrol the area owing to the Madhes unrest. Trees, worth millions, from various community, national and partnership forests of the district have been chopped down of late. “As hundreds of sal trees have been felled at Dawari forest area, which is very close to District Forest Office Chandranigahapur, we can easily suspect the collusion of officials with smugglers,” said Shyam Rai, a local. Timber smuggling from Rangapur Partnership Forest, Junglesahiya Partnership Forest and Ram Lal Brindaban Partnership Forest has been on the rise of late. Forest officials have remained mum though hundreds of trees have been cut down just a few metres away from the office, complained locals. According to locals, hundreds of trees have been felled in Dawari forest area in collusion with Rangapur Partnership Forest Chairman Nagendra Yadav and other officials. Yadav said that they could not stop the smuggling due to manpower crunch. Similar is the situation of Junglesahiya Partnership Forest. The smugglers armed with weapons cut down trees in broad daylight from Ram Lal Brindaban Partnership Forest. District Forest Office Rautahat agreed that timber smuggling was on the rise due to lack of regular patrolling owing to fuel crunch. Besides timber smuggling, a large chunk of forest area has been encroached. Hundreds of houses have been built clearing the forest area around Rangapur Partnership Forest. Bholantar area has been hit the worst. However, the forest office has taken no initiative to stop the growing malpractice. Chief District Forest Officer Shreebhagawan Gupta said a probe was under way regarding involvement of officials in timber smuggling. He said they would clear the settlement at the encroached area after the strike was over.