Permission letters found fake, DNA test offers new twist; Things going awry for Augustine brothers

WAYANAD: In a major twist of events, the permission letter submitted by the accused in the Muttil tree-cutting case was found as fake. The earlier submitted letter to the village office on behalf of the land owners also turned out to be forged ones, said the police. The seven letters submitted to the village office were all written by accused Roji Augustine. The handwriting verification and the forensic details emerged have now put the Augustine brothers on the dock.

It was Anto Augustine and Roji Augustine who submitted the papers to the village office to get clearance for cutting down the trees. The village office earlier asked the Augustine brothers to submit a permit letter showing consent from landowners to chop down the trees. The DNA test of the chopped trees was conducted at Kerala forest research institute in Peechi and it found that the trees were 500 years old.

The Augustine brothers earlier claimed they chopped the trees after conforming with the land reforms ACT which allowed cutting trees planted after 1964. However now, the DNA test of the trees found their age more than 574 years which busts the claims of the accused.

Both the Augustine brothers chopped out 104 trees from the Muttil forest in Wayanad. A chargesheet on the case will be filed soon.