Bhopal, July 21, 2020: A forest officer has been suspended in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh following the death of a tribal farmer.
The forest ranger was accused of demanding bribe from Maniram Gond to free his tractor-trolley that was seized by the forest department more than two weeks ago.
Maniram’s family members allege that he died of cardiac arrest on July 19, faced with harassment by the ranger who demanded 100,000 rupees to release the tractor.
The chief conservator of forests of Sagar district suspended the ranger after residents of Belai Mafi village in the Dhana area of Sagar district demonstrated by placing Maniram’s body on the highway.
State Public Works Department Minister Gopal Bhargava too joined the road blockade.
“The Ranger had seized his tractor in connection with the reported violation of a forest law,” Sagar Collector Deepak Singh told The Hindu. “Villagers claim he died of a heart attack after being tense. We are yet to get the post mortem report.”
Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry into other alleged irregularities during the Ranger’s tenure. “Villagers have claimed he seized motorcycles this way in the past,” he added.
The administration has compensated the family of Maniram, who was the husband of the Belai Mafi village’s sarpanch, with 5,000 rupees released by the gram panchayat.
Maniram’s younger brother Mukesh said the forest officers had seized his brother’s tractor trolley after accusing of encroaching forest land and promoting encroachment. Maniram had requested the officer to not take away his equipment as it was the time to sow seeds in the land. However, the officer didn’t listen to him and later allegedly demanded a bribe of 100,000 rupees.
On July 18, Maniram took 30,000 rupees to the forest office in the hope of getting back his tractor, said Mukesh. “But Ranger Devesh Gautam demanded 1lakh. Because of his harassment, my brother died,” he said.
Bhargava, the legislator from Rehli in Sagar, claimed foresters had misbehaved with the family while taking away the tractor. “As soon as I came to know about his death, I came here,” he told reporters near Dhana, some 190 km northeast of Bhopal, where the protest was held.
Appealing to the police to arrest the ranger, Bhargava said, “For the past 15 days, I have been asking the Chief Conservator of Forests and the Divisional Forest Officer to release the tractor, but no one acted. The affected family is poor, has six brothers and owns six acres of land.”
“Being a minister when they are not listening to me, I can understand how they are harassing tribals. That’s why I joined the protest against the officer of forest department. Suspension is not enough, we want FIR against him,” the minister added.
Meanwhile, a forest official, requesting anonymity, said Maniram cultivated parts of forest land and had been repeatedly warned against it. “However, demanding a bribe is unacceptable,” he said.
Gond’s wife, Ashok Rani says, “My husband was mentally disturbed and couldn’t bear the trauma.”