Vikram Simha, the brother of BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha seat Pratap Simha, was arrested by the Forest Department on Saturday for his alleged involvement in a case wherein 126 scheduled trees protected under the Forest Act were felled without permission and their logs smuggled. The woods were smuggled from Hassan district’s Maragondanahalli village.
Pratap Simha was recently caught in controversy after it emerged that he was the one who procured the pass for one of the accused in the Parliament breach case. The MP, a journalist-turned-politician, had maintained his innocence in that incident, stating that the people would people will decide if he was a patriot or a traitor.
A statement from the Forest Department said that Vikram Simha was arrested on Saturday by the Organised Crime Squad of the Central Crime Branch which handed him over to the forest department. "The suspect Vikram Simha came for his statement before the Investigation Officer (IO) but subsequently avoided his presence before the officer. Since his presence was essential, the IO found it necessary to secure his presence. Available documentary evidence also hinted at his involvement in the above-mentioned crime," it read.
Though Vikram Simha fled Hassan district to Bengaluru, a plainclothes team of Forest personnel kept a close eye on him. "Surveillance through electronic means indicated his departure from Hassan to Bengaluru. A group of officials subsequently arrived in Bengaluru and sought cooperation from the Police Commissioner of the city to assist in tracing the accused," the statement added.
The incident came to light on December 16 when Belur tahsildar Mamata alerted the Forest Department of the tree felling, according to the Deccan Herald. It was alleged that 126 trees were axed on land in Nandagodanahalli in Hassan’s Belur taluk. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against two individuals named Jayamma and Rakesh Shetty initially. Officials also seized one power chainsaw, a tractor and a trailer.
Forest Minister Eshwar B Khandre told reporters that the 126 axed trees included those between 50 and 60 years old. "No one is bigger than the law," Khandre told reporters in Bidar. "I don’t wish to name anyone. However, one Vikram Simha had an agreement to grow ginger on the said land. Hence, the officials deemed it necessary to detain and question him and he has been arrested."
Pratap Simha MP reacted to the arrest by sharing a copy of the FIR, stating that his brother Vikram was a farmer living away from public life and was not named in the FIR connected to the tree-felling case. Vikram too claimed the allegations were politically motivated. "I have not cut down any tree, it has nothing to do with me. But I had contracted that land for one year from July 24 to grow ginger."