Indians face Burmese court for illegal logging

Mungpi
Mizzima News: 22 June, 2006

Twenty one Indians, including a six-year-old boy, will face Chin State’s Tonzang township court on June 26 after being arrested by Burmese officials for illegal logging.

The group was arrested near the Indo-Burma border on May 6 and were also charged with illegally crossing an international boundary, a Tonzang lawyer told Mizzima on condition of anonymity.

The lawyer said the Indians, most of whom were from Manipur, were arrested and held in police custody after being caught logging with three trucks near a village called Aisi in Tonzang.

According to local residents, Indian businessmen have developed a system of bribery and illegal logging in the area. The arrest and trial of the group comes in the wake of a fresh Burmese military crackdown on the illegal timber trade.

Last week authorities in northern Shan state deported more than 400 Chinese who had been detained for unlawful logging.