Parsa: A joint patrol of the Nepal Army and forest users confronted Maoist CA member Chanda Devi Ram while she was involved in illegal logging in a national forest. On Monday she had already chopped down a dozen trees by the time the patrol apprehended her.

NA personnel deployed in Parsa Wildlife Reserve and members of local forest user groups arrested Chanda Devi Ram in a forest 800 metres to the east of the reserve. Bhim Bahadur Pakhrin, chairman of the Sunakhari Forest Users Group, said, "She was sitting on a tree that had just been chopped down when we got there. We have taken pictures of her sitting on the log."

When the patrol arrived, some ran away but a few including Ram were detained after security fired warning shots. Pakhrin said Ram arrogantly admitted that she had ordered her accomplices to cut down trees. "We asked her why she was destroying a national forest and her reply was 'I am a CA member'," he said. She also said she needed timber to build her own house. Pakhrin claimed an aide of hers even offered them a bribe to keep the incident secret. The patrol recovered a saw and four axes from the loggers. However, they did not detain her.

Ram now denies her involvement in cutting down trees and claims she never went to the forest on Monday. The officials in the district say they do not know about the incident.