Forest range officer for Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai suspended
:
A 50-year-old forest range officer for Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai was suspended on Friday on charges of dereliction of duty.
The Conservator of Forests (In-Charge), Vellore division, V.C. Rahul, who is currently CoF for Salem division, issued the order based on complaints of subordinate staff including women forest employees at Sathanur dam forest range.
The suspended forest range officer, N. Srinivasan, was transferred to Sathanur dam a few months ago from Tiruvannamalai town forest range. “Based on written complaints given by subordinate staff in the range, a probe is under way. He has been placed under suspension,” said a forest official.
Forest officials said that subordinate staff including women guards have said in the complaint that Mr. Srinivasan has been harassing them on various grounds since he was shifted to Sathanur range. He was said to be reportedly drunk during office hours including night patrolling in reserve forests. He also used to direct his subordinates to buy liquor for him during duty hours. He has also allegedly demanded money from staff to grant leave.
In the complaint, forest officials said that Mr. Srinivasan used to prefer to travel with women forest staff during night patrol in deep reserve forests. He reportedly asked male forest guards to wait on the fringes of the forests during such patrols. Further, forest officials said that no regular forest patrolling has been conducted by him for nearly a month. It has resulted in theft of sandalwood trees in the reserve forests under the forest area since then, the petitioners claimed.
Complainants have submitted their petition to Yogesh Kumar Darg, district forest officer (DFO), Tiruvannamalai, for further course of action. Based on initial inquiry, Mr. Rahul has issued a suspension order to the forest ranger, forest officials said.
Read Comments
- Copy link
- Telegram
READ LATER
Remove
SEE ALL
PRINT