Itahari, December 5:

Local forest users today caught Indrapur-based Maoist leader Prem Bahadur Rai when he was smuggling logs from Janajagaran Community Forest.

Rai, who was taken in control with a tractor full of logs, has been kept in the custody of District Forest Office, Morang, the police said. The consumers have also padlocked the office of Janajagaran Community Forest Users’ Group.

The president of the Janajagaran Community Forest Users’ Group, Rai has also been accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands rupees by misusing his post.

The locals also handed over all the documents of the Janajagaran Community Forest Users’ Group to the police.

Local Badri Acharya demanded legal action against Rai for his involvement in the timber smuggling.

Stating that accused Rai was under its control, the District Forest Office, Morang, said it would take legal action against him if he was found guilty.

Meanwhile, rampant deforestation is reported in Shantinagari Community Forest in Itahari municipality- 2 in the involvement of local forest users.

The consumers have been chopping down different kinds of trees in the pretext of firewood.