Muttil tree felling case: Tribals confirm govt order was manipulated to cut trees

The Muttil tree felling case relates to the misreading of a government order and the cutting down of endangered rosewood trees on revenue pattaya land at Muttil village in Wayanad. The three primary accused are Roji Augustine, a resident of Vazhavatta, and his brothers Jose Kutty Augustine and Anto Augustine.

Wayanad: In the Muttil tree-cutting case, tribal farmers from the Vazhavatta colony have come forward with new revelations. They claim that they have not applied for permission to cut the trees on their property. The accused Roji Augustine met them and claimed that the Village Officer had permitted him to chop down the trees.

The farmers reiterated that there was no voluntary application submitted to cut down the trees. The tribal farmers alleged that the accused Roji assured them to fix all the necessary documents. "The signatures shown on the application are not ours. The tree was felled by manipulating a government order. He said that more funds were required to fix the papers and therefore he can pay only a lower price for the chopped trees."

The accused Roii Augustine was the one who created all the documents; he was the one who purchased the trees. Earlier, forensic experts discovered that Roji Augustine was the one who created the fake applications in the landowners' names. The document was prepared and signed by Roji Augustine, according to examinations of the handwriting. Seven applications submitted under the names of landowners were later determined to be forgeries.

The fake applications were created under the names of small farmers and members of tribes. On the land of 65 people, trees were chopped down and taken. 

A misinterpretation of a government directive led to the cutting down of high-quality trees that were older than 300 years. The cut trees' DNA test showed that they were more than 300 years old.

Kerala Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran reiterated on Tuesday that the accused in the Muttil Tree Felling Case had chopped trees from the Revenue land. The accused will employ a number of strategies, to evade prosecution in the case, the Minister said. His reply was in response to reports that the accused had been held for misinterpreting a government order and felling trees on forest territory. He also assured that the government will take strict action against the accused.