NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Women in an eastern Indian forest are stripping naked to distract police and to help a criminal gang avoid arrest while illegally chopping down trees, the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday.

Some of the women belong to a timber mafia in the heavily-forested state of Jharkhand while others are paid to strip in front of the police, who are too embarrassed to arrest them or too distracted to hunt the gang down, the daily said.

It is proving tough to deal with these women, Jharkhand forest official B.K. Singh said. It has almost become a regular practice for them to strip.

India's forest cover has fallen due to illegal cutting of trees in the past few decades. Anyone felling a tree faces up to a year in prison, a fine of up to 5,000 rupees (63 pounds) or both.

Only 21 percent of India is covered by forests compared with a recommended 33 percent by the federal government.