Three IFS officers recently met the Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and put forth the Forest Department's position in the case of illegal tree felling on a reserve forest land plot purchased last year by the director general of police BS Sidhu.
Sources inform that the police have also submitted documentation related to the case to the State Government. While the case is sub judice in two courts, the police and Forest Department are both accusing the other side of irregularities. Chief Conservator of Forests, Garhwal, Gambhir Singh said that three IFS officers concerned had met the CM and had presented the department’s position to him.
“We had already submitted the relevant documents to the State. The Mussoorie divisional forest officer acted in the case according to the provisions of the Forest Act. Since the case is presently sub judice it would not be proper for me to comment further on this,” he added. It is worth mentioning here that the police recently arrested a contractor and two labourers accused of illicit tree felling on the land bought by Sidhu last year.
While the police aver that the accused labourers have confessed to have axed the trees on instructions from forest officers, the wife of the contractor has alleged that he is being framed by the police to ‘save’ the DGP. Office bearers of various Forest Department staff associations have demanded an impartial inquiry into the case either by the CBI or by a retired judge.
They stress that the arrests made by the police were part of a conspiracy to divert focus from the illegalities in the case.