Thin Line Between Success And Failure

In August 1986, I joined as Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Dhenkanal forest division, supposedly a tough division.  In the very first month, while moving in the teak forests of Saptasajya, I met a burly person who contemptuously asked me not to risk lives of the poor Forests Guards.  I wanted to find out more on the matter.

“I am a dismissed Forest Guard of this division. Once during night patrol in this forest, I confronted a group of smugglers cutting a huge teak tree.  The scuffle that ensued, led to a do-or-die situation.  At the end one of the smugglers got killed.  I was arrested and charged with murder. The Forest department did not stand by me.  The legal battle ate up my paltry savings and my ancestral property.  I went to jail and lost my job,” he said and asked, “Was I protecting trees for my benefit?  Did I kill the smuggler for some personal rivalry?  I could have been killed; chances were 50-50.  What did I gain by being sincere to my duties?  You are the DFO, you will never face the smugglers, but you will put at risk the lives of poor Forest Guards and look the other way, if they face the music.”  Frankly, I was rattled!

In a few days I realised that organised smuggling was rampant in the division. People in large groups, sometimes more than 100, entered the forests armed with lethal weapons, camped for a couple of days, cut and transported matured trees.   It was a huge racket funded by influential businessmen in the timber trade.  It was simply beyond the local forest staff to handle the situation.  Terrorized, local villagers obviously didn’t come forward to help.  Generally, on getting prior information, the DFO or concerned Range Officer mobilised staff to confront and prevent smuggling.  The field staff were highly demoralised and convinced that they were no match for the smugglers and had bitter experience in the past.  The local police didn’t consider timber smuggling to be a major issue, rather thought this was diverting the offenders’ energy from committing major crimes.

Luckily for me Mr Anup Kumar Patnaik joined as SP, Dhenkanal, a few days after I joined (and we both continued there for three years).  He was my immediate neighbour and was like an elder brother.  We used to have evening tea together almost every day.  I sought his advice and help.  We worked out a five pronged strategy.  First, tackle organised smuggling by joint forest-police counter offensive.  Second, boost morale of forest staff by facilitating disposal of pending court cases and departmental proceedings.  (I also saw to it that all pending arrear dues of field staff were immediately cleared.)  Third, strengthen intelligence gathering.  Fourth, hit at the root and attack the financiers of smuggling.  (We shut down several sawmills which were utilising smuggled timber.)  Fifth, mobilize local villagers to be a part of our team during counter offensives.  In a matter of months, we got palpable results.  Now, I had to guard against my field staff going overboard.  Sandeep Tripathi, an IFS officer of 1984 batch, was posted in Dhenkanal range for training.  A young Range Officer, Ashok Mishra, got his first posting in that range and took over from where Sandeep left. This really helped in executing our strategies and in due course we did not even require police support. I had a satisfying three-year tenure in the ‘tough’ division.

Within a couple of months of my leaving the division, late one night in November 1989, while leading an encounter with organised smugglers, Ashok Mishra got into a serious mess.  The forest staff were hugely outnumbered by the smugglers, the local villagers didn’t dare to come out in their support and they had no option but to open fire and beat a hasty retreat.  Next day, to their horror, they learnt that one person had died in the melee.  The general elections were approaching and the entire atmosphere was charged up.  Ashok came rushing to me, seeking help and guidance.  I went to Dhenkanal and talked to the new SP.  Initially, he was adamant that prima facie it was a case of murder and he insisted to get Ashok and others arrested.  I patiently explained the situation and requested him to personally investigate and then take a call.  He, finally, mellowed down and personally investigated and was convinced that there was no option for the forest staff but to open fire in self-defence.  The heat subsided in a few months.  But after the new Assembly was constituted, the matter was raised and the government agreed to reopen the case.

Ashok and four others surrendered in Court and obtained bail.  At this stage, Mr Adwaita Prasad Singh, the Forest Minister, who represented another constituency in the district, took up the issue.  He strongly believed that for protection of forests, the foresters needed some indemnification. He pleaded with the Hon’ble Chief Minister for sympathetic consideration.  Biju Patnaik was quite clear in his views: “If the forest people are not guilty, they will be protected, but highhandedness in the guise of forest protection cannot be tolerated.”  That is what Mr. Singh was pleading for.  The government ordered the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), Sambalpur, to investigate the whole matter independently.  Mr. Livinus Kindo, the RDC, Sambalpur, visited the site of the incident and carried out a detailed investigation.  He talked to local people in great detail and came to the conclusion that under the given circumstances, there was no option but to open fire and there was no malafide intention of any of the accused. Going by his recommendation the State Government decided to withdraw the case.

Ashok Mishra had a brilliant career and retired as DFO of an important division. Indeed, the line separating the successful from the disgraced is very thin.