Forest dept staff in sensitive areas can carry arms: HP govt

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to arm their forest department personnel deployed in sensitive areas to check smuggling of wood.

Forest personnel posted in sensitive areas adjoining Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir can carry pistols, guns, revolvers or rifles during raids to check illegal felling and smuggling of trees, an official spokesman here said.

"The decision has been taken keeping in view that smugglers carry modern weapons, while the forest department personnel are unarmed," he added.

The staff in Bilaspur, Dharamshala, Hamirpur, Nalagarh, Nurpur and Una forest ranges has been permitted to carry weapons.