Former Uttarakhand director general of police BS Sidhu wrote a letter to principal chief conservator of forests, seeking cancellation of the FIR registered against him and seven others over allegedly acquiring reserve forest land using fraud documents and felling 25 sal trees in the same area.
The former DGP said, “The fresh FIR is in contempt with the previous court orders and it’s a conspiracy against him by then divisional forest officer (Mussoorie) Dheeraj Pandey.”
The former top cop’s letter stated, “The forest department had already challaned me for the same matter on June 26, 2013 which is pending trial in the court (the proceedings of which have been stayed by the high court). Lodging a fresh FIR (after 10 years) on the same basic issue which is sub-judice and under stay orders of high court makes this case identical as that of State Vs Umesh Kumar, where the high court ordered registration of a criminal case against then senior most government functionaries for letting a second FIR lodged on the same issue.
In the present case, malice is also clear from the fact that this FIR has been lodged two days after the court ordered issue of summons against Dheeraj Pandey against illegal felling of trees, conspiracy to help land mafia in illegal grabbing of the said land and false framing of undersigned (Sidhu) after he complained against those illegal fellings.”
On October 23, the same day he was booked, the former DGP also wrote a letter to Dehradun senior superintendent of police leveling the same allegations.
His letter to SSP said, “The FIR against him came after the court issued a judgement against Dheeraj Pandey, citing in detail the prima facie evidence of how he was involved in the criminal conspiracy of grabbing land and felling trees along with his forest staff and land mafia.”
Dheeraj Pandey, who is now the director of the Corbett Tiger Reserve, rejected allegations and said, “The fresh FIR against Sidhu has been filed on the directions of the state government. Not just I, the senior officials of the government, including the then chief secretary, red flagged the matter.
The former DGP misused his power to file an FIR against me and staff members. I did my job faithfully. The 2018 NGT order, in which Sidhu was penalised for ₹46 lakh, vindicated that I did my job honestly.”
“In the investigations, it was clear that Sidhu made the illegal purchase when the person from whom he had claimed to buy the land had died in 1982. It’s a clear case of impersonation. Once the investigation in the fresh case begins, it will bring forth more facts, how everything transpired,” he said.
Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) Vinod Kumar Singhal couldn’t be contacted for remarks on the issue.
Sidhu and others were booked under sections 166 (Public servant disobeying law with intent to cause injury to any person), 167 (Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury.), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (Forgery of valuable security, will), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (Common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The FIR was registered on October 23 late night after an approval from Uttarakhand government for the same on the complaint of divisional forest officer (DFO) of the Mussoorie forest division Ashutosh Singh.