Cavrem local accuses forest officials of harassment

HERALD CORRESPONDENT
QUEPEM, JUNE 12
A resident of Cavrem-Quepem has accused forest officials at the Maina-Quepem Range and Canacona Range of threatening him and pressurising him to sign a statement against his wish.
In a complaint with the Quepem police, Tulshidas Velip claimed that he had sent a letter to the prime minister claiming that a tiger had been spotted in Cavrem-Maina.
“Since then, forest officials are harassing and pressuring me to issue a statement that there is no tiger in the area,” stated Velip.
Velip claimed that on June 9, a forest guard from the Maina Range along with two officials, claiming to be from the Canacona range, went to his house at Cavrem.
“They started threatening me and wanted to know why I had filed a complaint regarding the presence of a tiger at Cavrem to the prime minister. They also forced me to sign a statement which they had written and I refused to do so. They refused to give me a copy of the statement and neither were they ready to read the contents,” stated Velip.
The complainant claimed that villagers of Cavrem were also harassed by forest officials during the alleged bison-killing incident and feared that they could harass him by filing a false complaint against him.