4 IFoS probationary officers attacked in Rajkot

Suspected goons today attacked four probationary officers of the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) in Gujarat's Rajkot city when their group was returning to Ahmedabad from the Gir National Park in Junagarh after completing a study tour of western India, officials said.

The group of 47 probationers, 2017-batch, was returning to Ahmedabad to catch their flight to Delhi tomorrow after completing the 23-day-long tour. From Delhi, they were to leave for Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy in Dehradun.

At a fuel station in Rajkot, a probationer, Vipin, had strolled on the road to take fresh air when a local goon engaged him and hit him with a rod, K Sasikumar, course director, told PTI when asked about the incident.

When three of Vipin's course mates - Rahul, Sunil and Pankaj - rushed to his help, a jeep standing nearby suddenly hit them intentionally, injuring them seriously, he said.

"The IFoS Association strongly condemns the sinister attack on IFoS probationers of 2017 batch by local goons on March 24 and demands strict action against culprits besides immediate arrest," secretary general of IFoS Association S P Yadav said.

A case has been registered by police under IPC Section 308. A member of the group, who wished to keep his identity hidden, said the officers were demanding that a case under the the stringent IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) be included.

"Since two of the injured were suffering from temporary memory loss - not being able to remember events of last three four days, a neurosurgeon was consulted in Ahmedabad. One person received a serious head injury while another one got hit in the back having difficulty in sitting," Sasikumar said.

"It is not clear what was the trigger behind such serious attack on a group of Government of India officers. Two Innovas and one Volvo bus which was part of the convoy had stickers of on Govt of India duty sticker," he said.