Amravati: Two BMW cars seized by the forest department from sandalwood smugglers have been found missing. One car was allotted to Anantamaru, the principal secretary of the department in November 2017. Nirab Kumar Prasad, the incumbent has been using the vehicle.
Forest officials seized a BMW car bearing the registration TN 05 BH 3303 from a red sandalwood smuggler in a case registered under Crime No. 414/2017 in the Railway Kodur area of Annamayya district. Before the vehicle was confiscated by the government, the then chief of forest forces issued an order on December 11, 2017, allocating it to the chief secretary of the forest department. The incumbent special chief secretary of the department, Anantharam, was holding the position at that time. Anantharam continued in that position until June 2019.
After Anantharam, the current chief secretary to the government, Neerab Kumar Prasad, served as the chief secretary and special chief Secretary of the forest department from June 2019 to October 2020 and again from February 2022 to June 2024. After Prasad, Anantharamu has returned to the post and is currently continuing.
Along with them, Adityanath Das, who previously served as CS and is now retired, and another retired officer, GSRKR Vijaykumar, also continued in this post for a while. However, the department officials have no clue about its sudden disappearance, and the office of the principal chief conservator of the forest (PCCF) has written a letter to the special chief secretary of the department to inquire about its whereabouts.
Another BMW with the registration number TN18K2277, seized from the Puttur forest range, was assigned to the additional private secretary in February 2015. The forest officials also have no information about what happened to the vehicle now.
This issue has come to the attention of deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan, who is also holding the portfolio of forest ministry. Kalyan asked the PCCF to submit a report on this. The sudden disappearance of these expensive cars has left the entire forest department stunned.
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