Bhubaneswar, July 26: Timber mafia seem to be ruling the roost in the forests of Odisha with state government officials at the receiving end of the violence unleashed by them.

At least five forest officials sustained injuries, one of them seriously, when a group of timber smugglers attacked them with axes and crowbars in Baripada territorial forest division area earlier this week.

The officials invited the wrath of the smugglers when they tried to stop a truck carrying illegal timber.

Sources said such instances were becoming increasingly common in almost all forest divisions of Odisha. “The smugglers are well organised and act as mafia. They are also more armed than our men, most of whom guard the forests with only lathis,” said a forest official. The officials have been worrying about the trend of attack by smugglers ever since a forester was hacked to death and five others seriously injured in 2010 following a clash with a group of armed timber smugglers inside a reserve forest in Khurda district.

“That incident cannot be forgotten. There were about 40 timber smugglers armed with axes and other sharp weapons. They dragged the forester out and hacked him to death. The incident had a demoralising effect on our cadre,” said a forest official.

A more gruesome incident had taken place in 2007 when Maoists, who were believed to have been acting in league with timber smugglers, gunned down three forest officials in Dhenkanal district. The rebels had even kidnapped some forest guards triggering a revolt-like situation in the forest department.

Though foresters have ever since been given more arms, the weapons at their command are no match to the firepower of the smugglers who carry sophisticated rifles while putting crude weapons such as axes and daggers also to good use.

“They use axes and choppers when they deliberately want to make a murder look more gruesome. It is done with the intention of sending a message to other forest officials,” said an officer.

Sources said that as far as timber mafia and poachers were concerned, the most threatened forest area in Odisha was the Similipal Biosphere Reserve in Mayurbhanj district. While illegal tree felling is rampant in this so-called protected sanctuary, it has also become infamous for a number of cases of elephant poaching.