At the receiving end of the timber mafia's terror, forest officials in the State are an unhappy lot. With the Government failing to come to their rescue, they have been falling prey to the mafia's violence with little guarantee of protection even for their families. The mounting resentment among the officials found expression on the World Forestry Day on Saturday when at least 10 of them refused to accept awards honouring them. By doing so the officials felt they had made their point. They said their protest has acquired a special meaning in the context of the Government's failure to provide ex-gratia payment to the kin of forest guards killed last year by the mafia.