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BJP to probe DFO's death, land allotment

Staff Correspondent

BJP leader Dhiman will head the 5-member team

SHIMLA: The BJP leader in the Vidhan Sabha and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has constituted a committee of party MLAs to look into the mysterious death of Nalagarh Divisional Forest Officer R.L. Thakur and the controversial allotment of a massive land chunk in the demarcated protected forest area (DPF) to Hero Honda Motors. The industrial house is setting up a Rs.-550-crore two-wheeler project in Bir Plasi forest in Nalagarh sub division of Solan district.

Senior BJP leader I.D. Dhiman will head the five-member committee. Four other MLAs -- Harbans Rana, Ravinder Ravi, Rajiv Bindal and Hari Narayan Sani -- will be the other members, said a party communiqué. It said the enquiry committee will analyse both the things in depth and would bring out the truth before the public at the earliest.

The party has also constituted a fact-finding committee on the allotment of vast forest lands in Kangni area in Mandi district to some influential persons. These are also otherwise demarcated protected forests. The Forest Act does not allow any felling in these forests but all such norms are being flouted by the Virbhadra Singh government.

On the other hand the Confederation of Himachal Pradesh government employees has also demanded a CBI probe into the baffling death of Nalagarh DFO R. L. Thakur. General Secretary of the Confederation Mr. Vinod Kumar has said that the growing "industrial mafia" would not be allowed to stifle upright and honest government officials. He has mocked the statement of Industry Minister Kuldeep Kumar in which the latter has claimed that the land allotted to the two-wheeler company was a wasteland or one having just a few eucalyptus trees.

The Confederation said the land was full of Sheesham and other broad leaf tress and it was a DPF land.

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