The state forest department has decided to purchase sophisticated arms, as well as motorcycles and cars to intensify patrolling in reserve forests and combat crimes such as poaching and smuggling of timber and other forest produce.

“We will spend around Rs 30 crore to buy the arms and vehicles. For quite some time, we have felt the need to provide sophisticated firearms to our men engaged in patrolling and engage more vehicles to keep an intensive watch on the forest areas,” state forest minister Jyotipriyo Mallick said over phone from Calcutta.

Under the plan, revolvers, pistols, SLRs, motorcycles and SUVs will be bought with this fund. Around 95 per cent of these would be allotted for the forests of north Bengal.

Sources in the department said on several occasions, they have found that poachers, timber smugglers and those engaging in smuggling of animal parts and small animals use sophisticated firearms. “In contrast, our men (foresters) carry old pellet guns and .303 rifles. To prevent any crime in the forests, it is vital that they are well armed,” said a senior forest officer.

The proposal, he said, was with the state finance department and as the state was undergoing an austerity drive amid the pandemic, it took time to get the approval. “We could eventually convince the government that these items are necessary for conservation of forests and for protection of wildlife in the state.”

Once the purchases are made, the department plans to approach the state home (police) department so that forest guards and other officers who work on the field are trained to use the new equipment.

“They need to learn how to handle the firearms,” said a source.