Gadchiroli Feb. 23 (District Correspondent) The Range Forest Officer of Gadchiroli Arvind Pendam has finally been suspended by the forest department for his alleged negligence in the case of sale of forest land by some land mafias.
The D Voice news portal had published the news in this regard for the first time and had attracted the attention of the forest administration towards the issue of acquiring the forest land by some land mafias and selling it by converting the land into plots.
The 1.29 hectares of land bearing survey number 21 is located near Gokul Nagar area of the city of Gadchiroli. The mafias however turned this precious land into residential plots and started selling them to the people in higher rates. When the matter came to light after it was published in the D Voice news portal, senior forest department started investigation and removed the said encroachment and took the land into its possession. An offence was also registered against five persons involved in this scam.
These persons included Suresh Kannamwar, Rupesh sontakke, Gajendra Domle, Narendra Domle and Harish Bambode. A case has been filed in the judicial court in this regard.
Even though the work of encroachment upon the valuable land and its conversion into plots was going on in broad daylight, the RFO of Gadchiroli had turned his blind eye and neglected the issue paving way for the encroachers to convert the land into plots and sell it in a broad day light. The RFO was even hesitating to disclose the names of the encroachers deliberately and his report into the matter was also found to be suspicious.
Taking all these things into account, the forest department has finally suspended the RFO and has started investigation against him. Following this action, quite a sensation has prevailed among the mafias and the forest officials.
