8 yrs after CAG rap, K'taka forest dept told to check illegal resorts in Eco Sensitive Zones: Report
Bengaluru: Eight years after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India flagged the mushrooming of illegal resorts around protected areas in Karnataka, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre has directed his department to strictly implement the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) rules to curb such activities.
According to a letter cited by Deccan Herald on Thursday, the minister’s directive follows a series of complaints from farmers living within and around ESZs. They have alleged that while locals face restrictions on land use and development, commercial operations that disturb wildlife, including unlicensed homestays and resorts, continue unchecked.
“Farmers have alleged that illegal homestays and resorts mushrooming in the ESZ are causing disturbance to animals and driving them to villages by light and blaring sounds of the night life,” Khandre reportedly wrote in his letter to the Principal Secretary of the Forest, Ecology and Environment Department.
Khandre instructed field directors and divisional forest officers not to clear development proposals at the divisional level, but instead to place them before the ESZ Monitoring Committee for scrutiny. He also called for a comprehensive master plan, as directed under the ESZ notification.
The minister added that the full committee of the ESZ should discuss the proposal and give clearances as per the provisions in the master plan.
The CAG, in its Report No. 6 of 2017, had earlier warned the Forest Department about illegal resorts in ecologically sensitive areas. The audit found that of 51 resorts operating across six protected areas in Karnataka, only seven (14%) had obtained proper clearances. In the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, 13 out of 19 resorts were found to be running without departmental approval.
Furthermore, the CAG reportedly criticised the department for its lack of oversight, noting that it did not even maintain an updated database on such commercial establishments.
“It was observed that the lists of resorts furnished by the (forest) department were obtained by the department of tourism and the forest department did not have its own data... the absence of approval/regulation will have an indirect but significant impact on the wildlife and its habitats,” it stated.
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Four held for Rs 33 lakh online investment fraud; interstate racket busted
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has busted an interstate cyber fraud syndicate involved in an online investment scam and arrested four persons, an official said on Saturday.
A crime branch team arrested the accused in a case where a victim was allegedly cheated of Rs 33.83 lakh on the pretext of lucrative returns through online trading platforms.
“Police said the accused lured victims with promises of high returns and later coerced them into depositing more money on the pretext of unlocking or withdrawing earlier investments,” the officer said.
Police said the racket operated across several states, including Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan, and used a network of mule bank accounts to route and layer the defrauded money to conceal its origin.
“During the investigation, the cheated amount was traced to 15 bank accounts. Thirteen of these accounts were registered outside Delhi, indicating the organised and interstate nature of the syndicate,” said the police officer.
The accused have been identified as Mohammad Khalid (26) and Atiur Rahman (23), both residents of Delhi, Ramandeep Singh (29) from Punjab, and Tanish alias Heera Ram (27) from Rajasthan.
According to the police, Khalid was arrested on March 15 and allegedly disclosed that he gave his bank account details and SIM card to a co-accused for a commission.
Rahman, who was already lodged in a jail in Haryana in a similar case, was later formally arrested. Ramandeep Singh was arrested on April 6 and allegedly admitted to sharing his account credentials for monetary gain.
Tanish was apprehended from Rajasthan on April 9 for facilitating the use of such accounts in the fraud network.
During the probe, officers analysed over 100 call detail records, IMEI data and transaction-related digital evidence to track the accused and establish the money trail.
Three mobile phones and SIM cards used in the crime have been recovered.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and trace additional financial linkages, the police said.
