Erode: A video clip of a special sub inspector (SSI) found uprooting tree saplings planted by school students in a village near Erode, went viral on social media.
The cop's action raised eyebrows amid suspicion that he might be removing the saplings to help a local real estate promoter, leading to the district SP transferring the policeman to the Armed Reserve police.
An informed source said school students of Sanarpalayam village near Perundurai in Erode district were given tree saplings for a green drive a month ago. They also planted saplings on the roadside in their village and were nurturing them regularly. However, a construction engineer, Jayachandran, allegedly demanded of the villagers to remove the saplings, since he wanted to lay a new entrance to a developing site in the area.
As local residents declined to oblige, the engineer lodged a complaint against a local resident Ramasamy on charges of threatening him.
Following the complaint, SSI Loganathan from Vellode police station came to the spot few days ago, removed all the saplings from the spot and threatened some village youth who captured his action on a mobile phone. The clip was later shared in WhatsApp and Facebook and it went viral in social media.
In the wake of this development, Erode district SP, Mr. Sivakumar transferred the cop to the AR police department and an inquiry has been ordered.
