The state government has decided to set up an armed Special Task Force (STF) to check illegal activities in forests across Bengal.

Two STF teams will be formed for the forests of south and north Bengal. The teams are expected to give the forest department, which is battling a manpower crunch, adequate strength to protect the state’s green cover and put a halt to illegal activities. Apart from encroachment, the forest department has to tackle poaching and timber theft.

Each STF team will have 50 personnel, including separate officers for north and south Bengal. The manpower of the teams will be increased later.

While Siliguri will be the headquarters of the STF team in north Bengal, the one for south Bengal will be stationed at Jhargram. Each STF team will be lead by a divisional officer, who will work in coordination with the forest divisions.

“The force (lower-level personnel) will be equipped with single-barrel 7.62mm rifles and officers will carry revolvers,” said Ravi Kant Sinha, the Bengal wildlife warden.

At present, forest guards are armed with single-barrel rifles and rarely get 12-bore rifles to protect the green territory.

To recruit personnel for the new force the forest department has sent a proposal to the finance department. Once hired, the personnel will be taken to the police training institutes. The criteria for applying for the job are the same as those required for the police force.

“The Special Task Force will be trained on the lines of commandoes and will work on demand from the forest divisions,” said forest minister Rajib Banerjee.

To make a start, a 14-member STF has been set up from the existing manpower in north Bengal.

“We have arranged for training for them with the help of the police and now they are working only in north Bengal. We have sent a detailed proposal to the finance department for inducting a full-fledged STF,” Banerjee said.

The young forest guards in north Bengal were given commando training at the police training institutes in Calcutta and Barrackpore.

“Once we set up the STF teams, we will not require police assistance during raids or vigilance inside forests,” said a forest official.

Sources said the government was keen to check the loot of timber and the smuggling of animal skin from forests in Bengal.

“Such criminal activities cannot be stopped unless a properly trained armed force is in place,” the forest official said.

Sources said forest officials often pleaded helplessness in tackling the mafia.

Recently, forest officials in Purulia, which has vast stretches of greenery and hilly terrain, said they did not have adequate manpower to curb the felling of trees by timber smugglers. The sources said there were 2,400 sanctioned posts of forest guards in Bengal, of which nearly half were lying vacant.