COIMBATORE: The Forest department has lodged a complaint with Police against a range officer and forester who had siphoning off Rs 58 lakhs by issuing fake entry tickets at Kovai Kutralam, a popular tourist spot in the district.
The scam came to light when senior officials checked the reasons for low revenue despite the high footfall of visitors. The sum was recovered from the two and deposited into the eco-tourism committee's account. District Forest Officer (DFO) TK Ashok Kumar had suspended forester Rajesh Kumar on January 20. Conservator of Forests (Coimbatore Division) S Ramasubramanian has written to officials in Madurai division to take action against Saravanan.
On Friday, forest officials lodged a complaint with District Police regarding the incident. The letter seeking action against the two officers was handed over the SP by the Boluvampatti forest range officer. "We are discussing whether the letter is enough to register a case. Otherwise, they will be asked to lodge a formal complaint, said a police officer.