A 40-year-old forester attached to Ambur Range was tied to a tree and assaulted by a group of four unidentified men in Naickaneri Hills during the late hours of Sunday.
According to sources, the forester had been allegedy having an affair with the wife of one of the men behind the attack, in spite of being warned. It was also revealed that the forester had concocted a story to cover up his extra-marital affair and also to take revenge on his attackers.
Within a few hours after the forester Ramachandran was rescued and admitted to the GH in Ambur by his department personnel, a woman from Seekajonai tribal village lodged a complaint at the Ambur Taluk Police Station against the forester alleging that he tried to sexually harass her.
Ramachandran, who was on night beat in Naickaneri Hills area on Sunday, did not return till Monday morning. The Forest Department personnel in the range received information that he was found tied to a tree and badly beaten up.
The forest personnel rushed to the spot and rescued Ramachandran and y shifted him to the GH.
Ramachandran reportedly told his seniors that somebody hit him with the butt of country-made gun and injured him badly. They conducted an inquiry and found that Pancharathinam, Kumar, Sundaramoorthy, Periyakutty and Thangaraj of Seekajonai village had attacked Ramachandran and tied him to the tree on Sunday night. They also lodged a complaint against the five, including the woman, with the Ambur Taluk Police.
Police sources said Ramachandran had developed an illicit affair with the woman, who lodged a complaint against him. On learning about the affair with the woman, her husband and relatives warned them against their relationship. However, they continued their relationship.
On Sunday night, Ramachandran allegedly went to see the woman. When the woman’s husband and relatives spotted him, they beat him up badly and tied him to a tree. The forester fabricated a story that he was assaulted by four men to take revenge against Pancharathinam and four others to cover up his extra-marital affair. In the meantime, the woman’s family asked her to lodge a complaint against the forester, to counter the complaint lodged by the officials of the forest department’s against them.
The police said they will register cases after investigating into the complaints filed by both woman and the forester. The forester was not available for comments.