Pilibhit: Two forest beat watchers were arrested near Haripur forest range of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) at Patabhoji village on Monday night for their alleged role in giving protection to illicit liquor distillation work in the forest area. Two countrymade pistols and six live cartridges were seized from them by the Puranpur Kotwali police. Police have lodged an FIR against them.Field director H. Rajamohan has ordered verification of all beat watchers deployed in PTR. This will be the first time that such an exercise will be undertaken.Police said they had received a tip-off about forest beat watchers Ranjeet Chauhan and Mahesh Kumar of Guladia village under the same police station. They were booked under various sections of the Arms Act and sent to jail.Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, who headed the police patrol team in Haripur forest range, said the forest watchers were misusing their position by protecting illicit liquor distillation in the jungle and aiding its distribution.The duo used to aid the illicit liquor distillers by monitoring the status of police patrolling on nearby roads and conveying to them which route would be safe to take to avoid detection.Rajamohan, PTR field director, said, “I will see that an integrated drive is launched to search for liquor distillation units in forest area. Besides illegal entry in the forest, the distillers also used forest wood as fuel for distillation process.”

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