KOCHI: The forest department has suspended Erumeli forest range officer B R Jayan and deputy range officer R Ajay in connection with the alleged cultivation of cannabis on Plachery forest station premises. Additional principal chief forest conservator Pramod G Krishnan issued the order based on the investigation report submitted by Ernakulam forest flying squad DFO Manu Satyan.
The investigation has revealed that Range officer B R Jayan used the cannabis cultivation case to settle scores with the women beat forest officers at Plachery forest station who approached conservator of forest M Neethulakshmi alleging harassment at work place.
Deputy range officer K S Saji and Beat forest officer Sam K Samuel had found cannabis in grow bags behind a dilapidated building on Plachery forest station premises on March 12. Saji informed deputy range officer R Ajay about the incident over phone. Ajay reached the forest station immediately and the three officers destroyed the plants immediately.
On March 16, Saji along with beat forest officers Soumya S Nair, Rajimol and watcher Rekha, conducted extensive search around the office premises and found more cannabis on the banks of a stream near the forest station. They reported the incident to R Ajay and destroyed the plants as per his instruction. The officers informed Range officer B R Jayan about the incident and K S Saji shared pictures of the cannabis.
The investigation revealed that rescue watcher Ajesh P Balakrishnan had planted the cannabis on the forest station premises. The report filed by DFO Manu Satyan said range officer B R Jayan who visited the forest station failed to initiate legal action according to the forest code. He summoned rescue watcher Ajesh Balakrishnan to his office and recorded his statement in his mobile phone. The range officer took the signature of the accused in a white paper and recorded the statement later. It was found that B R Jayan tampered with the official records and prepared a fictitious report.
An investigation by the vigilance wing of the forest department found that B R Jayan circulated the statement of Ajesh Balakrishnan on social media bringing disrepute to the department. Though he was informed about the cultivation of cannabis which is a serious crime under the NDPS Act, the range officer failed to initiate stringent action or inform the higher officials about the incident. It was also found that B R Jayan tampered with the documents to implicate women employees at Plachery forest station who had submitted a complaint against him to the conservator of forest alleging harassment at work place.
Deputy range officer R Ajay has been suspended for destroying the evidence and failure to initiate action against accused Ajesh Balakrishnan despite having evidence about his role. Though deputy range officer K S Saji informed him about the cannabis found on forest office premises, Ajay failed to give clear instructions to the staff. The investigation found that he gave a wrong statement to the Flying Squad DFO in an attempt to derail the investigation.
Both the officers have been suspended based on the recommendation of Additional principal chief forest conservator (Vigilance). APCCF Pramod G Krishnan also ordered immediate transfer of deputy range officer K S Saji, section forest officer K B Ajith Kumar, beat forest officers Sam K Samuel, Soumya S Nair, Rajimol and forest watcher Rekha for failure to destroy evidence and failure to initiate legal action on time.