Kanchanpur, Dec. 12 -- In what locals describe as a 'film-style' operation, scores of trees in Gaurighat Community Forest of Kaluwapur in ward 7 of Krishnapur Municipality were felled within little more than an hour on November 27.

The rapid destruction has left nearly 10 hectares of forestland barren, raising suspicions of an organised attempt to grab community land-an issue that has plagued Kanchanpur district for years.

The community forest lies between gravel roads on all sides. Although tree-cutting had occurred sporadically in the past-often for firewood, funeral rites, weddings, picnics and traditional ceremonies-the scale and speed of the recent felling shocked residents.

The Gaurighat Community Forest has long suffered from we...