Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India]: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has started an investigation into the Tiger Safari case in the Pakharo range of Jim Corbett National Park.
State Director Vigilance V Murgeshan told media “On the request of CBI, State Vigilance has handed over all the documents related to the Corbett case to CBI.”
The CBI is investigating the Corbett Park case on the instructions of Nainital High Court. In this case, the CBI is first going to interrogate about a dozen forest officers, employees and contractors working in the range, including three retired Principal Chief Conservators of Forests (PCCF) and one current PCCF related to the Pakhro safari case.
The main focus point of CBI’s inquiry will be the then Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat, because vigilance and other investigations have revealed that under the pressure of Harak Singh, work was started in Corbett Tiger Safari without taking financial and other approvals.
Earlier the Uttarakhand High Court has taken a strict stand in the case of the felling of six thousand trees and illegal construction in the world-famous Jim Corbett Park. The High Court had asked the government why a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry should not be conducted into the matter.
It has been reported that between 2017 and 2022, trees were cut in Jim Corbett for the construction work of Tiger Safari and other tourist facilities. Boundary walls and buildings were also constructed in the National Park. Harak Singh Rawat was the Forest Minister of the state in 2017.
While hearing the PIL filed by Dehradun resident Anu Pant, the bench questioned the government. The petitioner told the court that several reports regarding the felling of 6,000 trees in Corbett were placed before the court. All these reports were shown to the court in detail by the petitioner’s advocate Abhijay Negi.
