Speculations about the so-called ‘Dharmadam’ link in the illegal felling of rosewood trees in South Muttil in Wayanad appeared to dog the government and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on Wednesday.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan sought to weaponise a recent Forest Department inquiry that pointed to an ‘influential’ journalist's ‘suspicious’ role in the plunder. The television reporter represented a Malayalam news channel in Kozhikode and used the place name Dharmadom on his byline.
It did not help the government that the television reporter had posted pictures of himself with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other CPI(M) leaders on Facebook. Moreover, Mr. Vijayan represented the Dharmadom Assembly constituency.
Hence, Mr. Satheesan alleged that the ‘Dharmadam’ link had come to the rescue of the forest mafia. The government had let off forest officials who tried to protect rosewood thieves with a mild rap on their knuckles.
CPI(M) leader A.K. Balan made light of Mr. Satheesan's allegations and said the party shunned wrongdoers. Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran said the Crime Branch would follow up on the findings in the report.
The current controversy has provenance in an investigation by Rajesh Raveendran, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Forest, Land and Resources), Kozhikode, into the loot.
The crux of the report is that Forest Conservator, Kozhikode, T.N. Sajan, had allegedly plotted with the accused in the South Muttil case to falsely implicate M.K. Sameer, forest officer, Meppady, who is pursuing the rosewood felling case, in an old tree felling offence at Manikunnimala.
The inquiry found that Mr. Sajan had relied on questionable documents handed over to him by the accused in the South Muttil case to ensnare Mr. Sameer in a fabricated case. It said the officer had ‘trained his guns’ on diligent subordinates and attempted to frame them in an ‘absurd and baseless’ case to protect the vested interests of the forest mafia.
Mr. Sajan and the rosewood case suspects had allegedly roped in the journalist to give credence to the ‘fabricated report.’ The inquiry report said the journalist had contacted the Divisional Forest Officer, Flying Squad, Kozhikode, P. Dhanesh Kumar and pressurised him to inquire into the ‘false’ Manikunnimala case spotlighted by Mr. Sajan. However, Mr. Sameer was innocent of the offence, which had occurred before he assumed the post of Meppady Range Officer.
