Bhawanipatna: Acting on an order of the Governor, the state Forest, Environment and Climate Change department has suspended Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Debendra Kumar Behera of Rayagada Silviculture division in connection with the suicide of forester Sanjay Nayak in Junagarh block of Kalahandi district.
The deceased Sanjay Nayak, posted as a forester at Jaring Silviculture Hi-tech Nursery in Junagarh, committed suicide by hanging at his official residence in Bhawanipatna, September 18.
The matter came to the fore in a letter numbered 19087 issued by the Forest department. Behera has been asked to report for duty at the head office of PCCF and HOFF at Bhubaneswar during the period of suspension and not to leave the headquarters without permission, the letter mentions.
Notably, a suicide note was recovered near the hanging body where the deceased had revealed to have committed suicide out of serious mental stress over his failure to provide cut money (PC) to the DFO. Town police in Bhawanipatna registered a case and launched an investigation after the deceased’s brother Rabi Narayan Nayak lodged a written complaint at the police station.
Later, police summoned Behera to the police station but he evaded the summons and fled. He appeared in the police station Friday after the court granted him interim protection from arrest. Rayagada area ranger Prakash Rath and Bhubaneswar ACF Rajanikant Rout also appeared with him in the police station. Bhawanipatna SDPO Sunaram Hembram interrogated them for over four-five hours in this connection. The interrogation also continued Saturday.
When contacted, DFO Debendra Behera said that he is innocent and was being unnecessarily framed in this issue. He is unaware about the suicide note, he said adding that all allegation leveled against him by the deceased forester were false and baseless.
He had applied for bail as a case has been registered in his name. The deceased’s family members are blaming him as the deceased wanted to work from Kalahandi district but he relieved him. The CCF visited Jaring Hi-tech Nursery Sunday and conducted a probe. He interrogated the guards and the forester and verified various papers and documents.
PNN