The Forest Guards in Madhya Pradesh are an extremely demoralised lot these days as they costantly face the threat of murder from illict fellers and poachers. In the last five years, at least 35 forest guards have been killed while on duty in Madhya Pradesh. The number of those killed this year has gone up to eight with the brutal mur der of a Forest guard on October 15 inside the Matkuli Forest range in Hoshangabad district.