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Chhattisgarh government serving show cause notices to scam tainted forest officials charged opposition Congress in the state legislative assembly Monday.
Not satisfied with the government action, the Congress members staged a walk out from the House as a mark of protest against the BJP-led government for allegedly protecting the officials. The opposition demanded the tabling of probe report in the House that Chief Minister Raman Singh refused.
The issue date back to 2009 when the forest officials came under the scanner for allegedly procuring sal seeds at a cheaper price and showing it at a higher price. The opposition alleged that it was a multi-crore scam and the forest officials caused a huge loss to the state exchequer.
Senior Congress legislator and former minister Satyanarayan Sharma raised the issue and asked about the probe conducted into the sal seeds scam that was unearthed in 2009. He also asked to reveal the names of the officials who were indicted in the probe.
Chief Minister, who holds the additional portfolio of forest department, informed that a probe was ordered on December 21, 2010 and the investigating officer, the then Chief Conservator of Forest (Conservation) BK Sinha, submitted the report on February 23, 2011.
Singh revealed the names of 10 officials who were indicted in the probe committee report. They include from the rank of Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) to Forest Rangers. The Chief Minister said the state government had issued show cause notices to the officials as part of the action taken.
The opposition members created a ruckus in the House stating that the government had completed the formalities by issuing show cause notices instead of taking stringent action. They demanded that the state government should table the report on the floor of the House.
When the chief minister failed to respond, the Congress members walked out from the House.
