Red Sand Boa snake smuggling; range officer arrested for accepting bribe to save accused

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The vigilance has arrested Palode Forest Range Officer L Sudheesh Kumar, who took a bribe of Rs 1.45 lakh to save the accused in the Red Sand Boa smuggling case. The action was taken on the recommendation of the Forest Vigilance in the incident where Sudheesh Kumar accepted a bribe through Google Pay to save the accused and the owner of the vehicle caught smuggling a Red Sand Boa snake. Sudheesh, who was suspended as part of a departmental investigation, had rejoined work two months ago.

The Toyota Qualis vehicle used to smuggle the Red Sand Boa snake, the vehicle owner and the accused Sajith and Rajpal were taken into custody in March 2023 but were rescued. In a complaint in this regard, the Forest Department found that Sudheesh Kumar had accepted a bribe of Rs. 1 lakh given by Rajpal's relative and Rs. 45,000 through Sajith's sister's Google Pay. Following this, the Range Officer Sudheesh Kumar and the driver Deepu were suspended. However, the Kerala Administrative Tribunal cancelled the suspension on a petition filed by Sudheesh citing a technical issue in the suspension order. With this, Sudheesh rejoined work two months ago.

The Forest Vigilance had found that the Red Sand Boa snake smuggling gangs had links with some officials of the Forest Department. The Range Officer was arrested while conducting a comprehensive investigation in this regard. With this, Vigilance's move is to expand the investigation to other officials associated with them.