KOCHI: In the aftermath of the acquittal of all 34 accused in the 2013 Thamarassery Forest range office attack case, the forest department has decided to take disciplinary action against the four officers who turned hostile during the trial. This decision comes as a response to the setback suffered by the department in the case.
The Thamarassery Forest range office was set ablaze by a mob on November 15, 2013, in protest against the implementation of the Kasthurirangan Committee Report on the Western Ghats. Unfortunately, several witnesses, including four forest officers, turned hostile during the trial, weakening the prosecution’s case. Compounding the issue, the case diary had gone missing from the court, forcing the prosecution to rely on certified copies of documents obtained from the court.
The mob’s actions resulted in a loss of Rs 80 lakh for the department, as vehicles and office documents were set on fire during the attack. Among the key witnesses, deputy range officer A K Rajeevan and beat forest officer B K Praveen Kumar are still serving, while V P Surendran and M Subramanian have retired from service.
Forest Minister A K Saseendran stated that a decision on disciplinary action will be made after consulting with the Head of Forest Force Ganga Singh and Additional Chief Secretary K R Jyothilal. He said a decision on filing an appeal will be taken after consulting the advocate general.
Senior officers of the department deemed the officers’ conduct as serious indiscipline, and while the two serving officers will face departmental action, the government will explore provisions in the Kerala Service Rules to reduce the pension benefits of the other two officers.