New Delhi, Jan 8 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Friday expressed serious concern over the rising violent attacks on forest officials in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh by armed poachers and smugglers and directed the Centre and states to come up with a policy arming the forest rangers and providing them with bulletproof jackets.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said it was "extremely distressing" to see forest officials wearing slippers and armed with sticks put on duty to protect large tracts of forest lands.

The CJI said that the forest officer is usually alone and cannot approach others for help unlike a policeman in a city.

The top court was hearing interim applications filed in a 25-year-old Public Interest Litigation of late T N Godavarman Thirumulpad, a member of the princely Nilambur Kovilakam family of Kerala.

Senior counsel Shyam Divan said India has recorded 30 per cent of mortal fatalities among the forest officers in the world.

Voicing over the heavily armed poachers, Chief Justice Bobde asserted that proceeds of crime are in millions of dollars.

"This is an international crime. Recently, I was told that the pangolin skin trade extended to China because people believe they are good for certain things," the CJI added.

The Court noted that states like Assam and Maharashtra have armed forest rangers, but there was no information about steps taken by other states, where poaching is rampant.

Agreeing the top court's concerns over the safety and vulnerability of unarmed forest officials, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta apprised the court that the Centre would explore the possibilities including arming them.

UNI JW SV 1638