Keralam Forest Minister seeks fresh probe into conspiracy behind Muttil tree-felling

Kozhikode: The conspiracy angle in the Muttil tree-felling scandal, left unexplored by the previous government, is back in focus, with Forest Minister Shibu Baby John seeking further investigation into the allegations.

In a letter to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Shibu has called for an inquiry into the high-level interventions that led to the controversial revenue department order, which is blamed for triggering widespread tree felling across the state, as well as the role of the prime accused, the Augustine brothers.

The move follows complaints lodged with the forest department by Anil Akkara, Joy Kaitharam and K Ramesh Kumar. The complainants allege that revenue officials and members of the then government, including the minister concerned, were involved in issuing the controversial order in 2020.

The complaint also refers to a journalist's recent disclosure that he had witnessed discussions between a senior executive of Reporter channel and the Augustine brothers at the channel's Ernakulam office. The journalist claimed that the discussions preceded action on the tree-felling file by the then revenue principal secretary, Dr A Jayathilak. The complainants have sought to have the journalist to be examined as a witness.

Describing the complaint as serious, Shibu Baby John has recommended a high-level investigation.The Muttil case was investigated by a team led by DySP V V Benny, which filed 41 charge sheets before the Bathery court. The Augustine brothers are the main accused in 36 of these cases. The forest department too has begun filing occurrence reports (ORs) in cases registered by it in connection with the tree felling.