Lalit MohanTribune News ServiceRopar, February 3Defying the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s December 24 order staying felling, the count of illegally axed khair trees has gone up to nearly 2,000 in Ropar forests. Sources privy to the development said the forest teams of Nawashahar and Garshankar ranges deputed to check illegal felling have found more stumps, indicating around 1,500 to 2,000 trees were axed.Meanwhile, a case was registered after a team confiscated 319 logs of khair from a katha unit located in Chinpurni area of Una, HP. Investigation into illegal felling and transportation of trees outside the state has been handed over to the Ropar police.The sources said the development suggest a khair wood mafia was operational.Earlier, illegally felled trees from government forests in Ropar district were traced to two katha units in Hoshiarpur district. The forest officials investigating the case had confiscated 350 logs from Nara and 150 from Talwara Katha. The wood confiscated was transported back to Ropar.The sources said the forest officials have filed a police complaint against all three katha units. They added that the numbers of illegally felled trees was likely to go up as inspections were still pending for forests in Jhandian village.Divisional Forest Officer Kanwardeep Singh said though the number of trees felled has swelled, officials would have to corroborate it with previous records to verify if the trees were felled illegally.A forest guard and two others had earlier been booked for allegedly felling in Ropar district. Taking suo motu cognisance of The Tribune’s report, the Punjab vigilance has also started an inquiry into the case.According to the FIR, the case relates to illegal felling in Fatehpur, Bhangala and Bagwali beats of the Ropar range.