Even though the Bargarh DFO has suspended Forester Giriraj Kunbhar and Forest Guard Chumki Mohapatra in Gaisilet block’s Kamalapadar illegal tree felling case, the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD) on Saturday demanded suspension and arrest of the ACF, the Ranger and the DFO accusing them as real culprits in the case.
Notably, Kamalapadar villagers had field an FIR against these forest officials in the Gaisilet police station on March 8. Thereafter, around 15 to 20 forest officials reached the village along with Bargarh district VSS president Miniketan Sahu and asked people to withdraw the IFR and to compromise the issue.
The next day, the DFO suspended Kunbhar and Mohapatra for negligence of duty. But the CSD termed this action as eyewash to save the real culprits. They accused ACF Dibakar Behara and Ranger Rajendra Behera as real culprits and the DFO as a culprit as he was blindly supporting them.
On Friday, villagers also met the Bargarh SP and urged him to arrest the three.
Earlier, basing on news reports that five of the Kamalapadara villagers had been arrested for cutting trees illegally, a fact finding team of the CSD, Odisha had visited the village on March 6 and submitted its report to the Chief Secretary and concerned officials on March 8. The CSD alleged that the above mentioned forest officers had cut a huge number of valuable trees by misusing power but made the innocent community people, who have been protecting the trees for generations, scapegoat.
Apart from demanding arrest of the three forest officers, the CSD also demanded a high-level inquiry into the tree felling issue, return of all logs seized by the Forest Department to the villagers and holding of awareness programmes on the Forest Rights Act.
Sources said political parties like Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are planning to protest the illegal tree felling in the village.