A forest range officer was attacked inside his office at Chanchal in Malda district on Wednesday morning, allegedly by a sawmill owner and a youth, leaving him with a grievous head injury.

Dulal Sarkar, the forester in his mid-forties, was in his office at Hatkhola when sawmill owner Monirul Islam and the youth stormed in around 11am. The duo confronted Sarkar over a probe initiated against Islam for felling eucalyptus trees.

According to sources, Sarkar told the two that a complaint had been lodged by the state public works department regarding the felling of 10 eucalyptus trees at Jalalpur along the Chanchal-Malatipur state highway and Islam’s name had surfaced during the investigation.

"Islam and his accomplice, however, verbally abused the forest officer and tore up the official documents. The sawmill owner then struck Sarkar on the head with a heavy steel object. Sarkar fell from his chair and began bleeding profusely," said a source.

His colleagues rushed him to the super-specialty hospital in Chanchal, where he received seven stitches on his head. When Sarkar's condition deteriorated, he was referred to Malda Medical College and Hospital for further treatment.

Ramen Sarkar, an employee posted at the Chanchal forest range office, said there were prior complaints against Islam for carrying out illegal activities at his saw-mill in Chandrapara, Chanchal.

“He was aggrieved over the action taken by the forest department and carried out this attack,” he said.

Jiju Jespar, the divisional forest officer of Malda, said Islam's name had cropped up during the ranger's probe into the PWD complaint.

Although Islam fled after the assault, police acted swiftly and arrested him later in the afternoon,

“A case has been registered, and investigation is in progress,” said Avijit Banerjee, the superintendent of police, Malda.