Muttil tree felling case: Chargesheets filed in 36 cases

Kozhikode: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the Muttil tree felling case filed chargesheets in 36 cases against the accused, including the Augustine brothers.The chargesheets, naming key accused Roji Augustine, Josekutty Augustine and Anto Augustine as accused, were submitted in Bathery judicial first class magistrate court.Large-scale felling of trees was carried out under the cover of the controversial order issued by revenue department in Oct 2020, permitting farmers to fell trees, except sandalwood, which they had planted on lands assigned to them under Kerala Land Assignment Rules 1964 and trees that grew on the land after that.The chargesheets said that the accused felled trees worth crores of rupees by misinterpreting the govt order during 2020-21 and deceiving many owners of land where the trees stood.Following the controversy, govt withdrew the disputed order in Feb 2021.Timber worth around Rs 15 crore that was smuggled is currently stored at forest department's Kuppadi depot. Many logs have been found to be between 100 and 500 years old. In Jan 2023, the court had issued orders to ensure that the timber was preserved without damage. An appeal filed by the accused against forest department's action of seizing 120 teak logs valued at over Rs 10 crore was earlier dismissed.The investigation was carried out under the leadership of DSP V V Benny.The SIT had in Dec 2023 submitted the first chargesheet in the Muttil tree felling case against 12 accused. They were then charged under various sections of IPC, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), IPC 409 (offence of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant, or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), IPC 120 (b) and 34 (conspiracy, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (3) (1), IPC 465 (forgery), 471 (using a forged document or an electronic record as a genuine one), among others.