Chhattisgarh Forest Officer Arrested For Rs 7 Crore Tendu Leaf Bonus Rip-off

Raipur:

The Financial Offences Wing (EOW) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer in reference to a large-scale misappropriation of tendu leaves bonus funds in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, officers stated.

Deputy Director of Prosecution Mithilesh Verma confirmed the arrest, figuring out the officer as Ashok Kumar Patel, who was the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Sukma on the time of the alleged irregularities.

In keeping with Mr Verma, Patel was produced earlier than Particular Court docket Decide (Prevention of Corruption Act) Neeraj Sharma, who remanded the officer to 6 days of police custody until April 23.

The accused officer is alleged to have withdrawn roughly Rs 7 crore, which was supposed as bonus funds for tendu leaf collectors.

Mr Verma defined that the misappropriation occurred as a result of the funds weren’t credited to the supposed beneficiaries, who didn’t have financial institution accounts, permitting the cash to be diverted.

Tendu leaves are a significant forest product in Chhattisgarh and are sometimes collected by tribal forest dwellers beneath state-run procurement schemes.

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