The Forest Department included D Sivakumar, son-in-law of Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister K Ramachandran, in the chargesheet as an accused of allegedly levelling a road inside a reserve forest using earth movers and heavy vehicles in Kil Kotagiri of Nilgiris Forest Division. D Siva Kumar is the owner of Medanad estate at Elada in Kil Kotagiri and the illegal work was reportedly carried out near the estate.
According to Times of India, Sivakumar undertook the work illegally without getting prior permission from Forest Department.
Earlier, estate manager Balakrishnan, two drivers of road rollers Umar Farook from Assam and Pankaj Kumar (38) from Bihar were booked and arrested by Forest department, said a report on DT Next. The arrest was made under TN Forest Act, 1882 and Forest Conservation Act 1980.
District Forest Officer S Gowtham, talking to TOI, said that a chargesheet was prepared after a detailed inquiry with three arrested accused and Sivakumar has also been included as an accused in chargesheet.
Following this, Siva Kumar on Thursday surrendered before Judicial Magistrate Court in Kotagiri. The Forest Department also submitted the chargesheet at Kotagiri magistrate court.
However, after Siva Kumar said the works were carried out without his knowledge, the judicial magistrate granted him bail.
In Elada forest area, a 4 km forest road is already present. Of the total, the forest department maintains 2.3 km of the road. However, the management still went ahead with levelling 1.7 km stretch even though the existing road was well-connected to the estate. The forest department accused the estate of illegally widening the road and also seized the earthmovers.
Meanwhile, local conservationists told The Hindu that the forest department should ensure that the pathway returns to its former dimensions. They also said that carrying out such works would affect the wildlife movement in the corridors.