Forest officials collecting money from cardamom farmers; Forest Minister orders probe

IDUKKI: Forest Minister AK Saseendran has ordered an inquiry into allegations that the forest department collected money from cardamom farmers. The chief of vigilance wing of the forest department has been directed to submit a report immediately.

He said that the forest department has taken the incident seriously and that stern action would be taken if anyone is found guilty. "'Today morning, I came across reports which claimed that forest officials were illegally collecting money from cardamom farmers in connection with Onam. The Chief Vigilance Officer has been directed to investigate and report on the nature of this news. Based on this, necessary follow-up action will be taken, ”the minister said.

It was alleged that forest officials had collected money from cardamom farmers for the Onam fund. The footage was earlier released by a private channel.