Chennai: A state forest department accountant in Tiruvarur, K S Sivakumar, has been charged in a case and placed under suspension for allegedly forging treasury challans and bank seals to divert at least ₹48 lakh of department funds into private bank accounts.According to a senior forest official, income from the department is usually remitted in two ways — cash deposits go into a designated forest revenue account at the state treasury, and digital payments are remitted to a nationalised bank account.Sivakumar, however, deposited the department’s income into personal accounts belonging to a contractor, officials said. To cover his tracks, he allegedly created fake treasury challans with forged bank seals and presented them as proof of remittance.The fraud first came to light after a cheque for ₹72 lakh signed by district forest officer S Krithika was deposited into an individual’s bank account instead of the department’s official account. When the discrepancy was flagged, Sivakumar remitted the full amount to the treasury account. The matter was not scrutinised further, but the irregularity was revealed during the department’s annual audit inspection. Auditors found evidence suggesting that crores of rupees in forest revenue may have been swindled through similar means over time.The principal chief conservator of forests and head of the forest force in Chennai has constituted a committee to investigate the matter. The probe is now examining whether senior officials were also involved in the alleged fraud. Sivakumar has been posted in Tiruvarur since 2017 and was suspended last month.The committee’s audit and investigation are still ongoing, and officials suspect the total amount misappropriated could run into several crore rupees. Further investigation into the scale and mechanics of the fraud is continuing.
