4 forest staff suspended

Four forest staff have been suspended for negligence in discharging duties and aiding the plunderers of some 30,000 Jhau (tamarisk) trees on Teknaf beach in Cox's Bazar early this month.
They are Teknaf Forest Range Officer Golam Mostafa, Beat Officer Manash Kumar Chakma, forest guard Hanif Majumdar and the department's boatman Abdus Sabur.
MA Khaleq, Chittagong divisional forest officer of the Coastal Forest Department, issued the suspension orders on Friday. The four forest staff left Teknaf yesterday.
Banshkhali Forest Ranger Kush Kumar Baidya took over the charge of Teknaf range.
The departmental action came following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's instructions at a National Environment Committee meeting for taking action against the plunderers.
Several newspapers last week reported that some local adherents of the ruling party and its youth front chopped down around 30,000 trees on the 10-kilometre beach from Shahparir Dwip to Baharchhara at Teknaf from September 5 to 10 with forest officials playing the role of silent spectators.
Felling of over 10-year old trees exposed the coastal belt to natural disasters like cyclone and tidal surge.
Law enforcement agencies in a joint drive seized logs of around 7,500 Jhau trees at various places in the coastal region on September 12.
Jamal Uddin Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station, told The Daily Star that police have arrested seven people in connection with the plunder of trees.
The forest department filed a case against 40 people on charge of plundering the trees four days after the incident.
A team of officials led by Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Gias Uddin Ahmed visited the spot on September 16. Another team led by Chittagong Divisional Commissioner is scheduled to inspect the spot today.