A forest officer in the Coimbatore district has suspended a forester and sought action against another officer for issuing fake entry tickets to the visitors to a popular ecotourism spot located 35km from the city. The officer said he placed forester Rajesh Kumar who was attached to the Boluvampatti range under suspension on Thursday for appropriating ₹35 lakh that was collected as entry fee to Kovai Kutrallam. “He confessed to the crime during a departmental inquiry. We have recovered ₹35 lakh from Rajesh and deposited it in the Ecotourism Committee account,” the officer said. Similarly, the officer said former Boluvampatti range officer Saravanan was found to have swindled ₹23 lakh that was collected from the visitors to Kovai Kutrallam as entry fee. He was recently transferred to Rameswaram which comes under the Madurai Forest Division and officials have approached the Conservator of Forest in Madurai Division to place him under suspension.
