Kendrapada forest officer sells fish seized in raid, gets suspended

KENDRAPADA: A forest officer of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary within the Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapada district was suspended on Thursday after it came to light that he had kept some and sold the rest of the 12 quintals of fish, which he had seized from three fishing trawlers on November 29. Sources in the forest department said the fish would have fetched him at least Rs 1.5 lakh, if not more.
The suspended officer, Prafulla Kumar Majhi, had also arrested nine persons for illegally entering a stretch of seawater where fishing is banned from November 1 until May 31 to allow the endangered Olive Ridleys, which swim ashore to the world’s largest rookery of sea turtles in Gahirmatha every year, to lay eggs.But he had allegedly documented the seizure of only about two quintals of fish, which was seized from the nine fishermen.
“On receiving complaints from the owners of the trawlers, we launched an investigation. Preliminary inquiry revealed that forester Prafulla Kumar Majhi was involved in this case as he was found to have hidden information about the fishes, which were seized from the three fishing trawlers. Therefore, he has been suspended,” Bikash Ranjan Dash, the divisional forest officer of the Bhitarkanika National Park, said. He added that the earnings made by the suspended forester is being probed.