MP minister, supporters take away seized machine, vehicle

Madhya Pradesh minister UshaThakur led a group of supporters who barged into a forestdepartment office and forcibly took away an earth movingmachine and a tractor-trolley seized for illegal digging in aprotected area near here, an official alleged on Tuesday.

Thakur and her supporters, numbering around 20, alsoallegedly threatened the staff at the forest office inBadgonda in Indore district on Sunday evening, he said.

Badgonda forest range official Ramsuresh Dube said hehad submitted a complaint in connection with the allegedincident, but it has not been acknowledged yet by the policestation concerned.

Badgonda is part of the Mhow assembly seat representedby Thakur, who holds the culture portfolio.

An earth moving machine and a tractor-trolley wereseized under relevant provisions of the Indian Forest Act onJanuary 10 as they were deployed for illegal excavation andmaking a road without permission on reserved forest land.

''After seizing the machine and the tractor-trolley,forest staffers had kept them in the Badgonda forest officepremises,'' Dube told reporters.

But, the states culture minister along with hersupporters entered the Badgonda office premises and forciblytook away the machine and the tractor-trolley afterthreatening the forest staff, he alleged.

Efforts to contact Thakur on the issue proved futileand one of her assistants said she was away in Kerala.

Badgonda police station in-charge Ajit Singh Baisclaimed he has no knowledge of any complaint against Thakurand her supporters on the issue.