The CM flying squad conducted yet another raid at the Haryana Roadways workshop in Hisar on Tuesday and found 19 trunks missing from the spot, besides several crucial pieces of evidence that were found tampered with.
The team also detected serious discrepancies between departmental records and the actual situation on the ground, treating them as major irregularities. During a raid on June 26, the CM flying squad had detected that 86 trees were cut at a site in violation of the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding a ban on felling of trees.
However, after the CM flying team got information of tempering with the evidence, it conducted the raid again, led by the Hisar Range In-charge Sunaina. DSP Vikram Bhadu, besides the forest officers Rohtash, Rajesh.
However, during the second inspection, around 19 of those numbered stumps were found missing from the spot. The stumps that had been kept outside the premises were also found to have been removed.
According to the Forest Department, the disappearance of stumps from within a government compound enclosed by a boundary wall is a serious matter.
She said during the first inspection, they issued clear instructions that no stump, timber or any other evidence should be removed until the inquiry was completed. Despite this, the removal of evidence prima facie appears to be an attempt to influence the investigation and amounts to serious tampering with evidence, she said.
The CM Flying squad in charge informed that a number of inconsistencies were also found in the departmental records submitted to the Forest Department. One official letter mentioned that only 40 to 50 trees had been felled, whereas evidence at the site indicated that the actual number was significantly higher, the sources said.
Similarly, another record stated that 128 trees had been cut and two trees were still standing. However, during the second inspection, no tree was found, indicating that those two trees had also been removed without permission, said the sources.
Moreover, the records mentioned that only 10 eucalyptus trees had been felled, whereas the inspection found 55 eucalyptus stumps at the site. Investigating officials termed this a serious irregularity and noted a mismatch between official records and the actual position about the number of felled and standing trees at the site.
Sunaina said the first raid was conducted on June 26 following a tip-off and found 86 cut tree stumps and 132 uprooted pole-sized saplings inside the workshop premises. She said that while there was no record of the timber from the felled trees, evidence on the ground suggested that the wood had been disposed of. The contractor had also failed to deposit the value of the timber into the government account, raising suspicion of financial loss to the state exchequer, she said.
According to the CM flying team, the findings of the second inspection are being matched with the records of the first inquiry, and a detailed report is being prepared. The report will be submitted to senior authorities for legal and departmental action against the concerned officials, the contractor and any other persons found responsible, the officials informed.