The police have arrested two teenagers who set fire to the community forest of Kushma municipality in the district. According to District Police Office Parbat, 18-year-old Samir Thapa of Kushma-9 and a 17-year-old teenager were arrested.

They were arrested on Wednesday evening when they were setting fire to the public forest above the Modi River in Kushma Municipality-10 Gyadi. "In the evening, after a fire broke out in Khareha in Kushma municipality-7, we reached with fire engines to put it out," Police Inspector Ram Prasad Sapkota said, "At that time, there was news of a fire in the forest of Kushma municipality-10 on the other side. Immediately we reached there and managed to control the person who started the fire.' 

According to him, both the arrested persons have been sent to Division Forest Office Parbat for action. 

According to Section 49 of the Forest Act, 2076, anyone who sets fire to a forest or causes a fire is punished with imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of 50,000 to 1 lakh rupees or both. Jhyamnarayan Sapkota, Head of Divisional Forest Officer of Division Forest Office, Parbat, said that according to Section 50, if the forest is set on fire and causes great damage, it is mentioned in the law that the culprit must also compensate for the damage.