Mystery of 3,005 logs found buried at Delhi Golf Club remains unsolved

On July 19, 2019, police registered a case against the club for alleged tree felling, under sections 8, 23, 24 of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, after receiving a complaint from range forest officer Satyender Prakash, who was posted with the South forest division in Tughlakabad. Then Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik transferred the case from Nizamuddin police station to the Inter-State Cell of the Crime Branch.

Over the past three and a half years, police have questioned the club’s president, captain, and secretary who, in their statements, told police they were not aware of where the logs came from.

“Police requested the forest department to seize and take custody of the recovered logs. They were told by the department that as per Section 17 of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, they had directed the secretary (DGC) to execute an indemnity bond of Rs 1 crore with their department for safe custody of the recovered logs. However, the club refused to execute the bond,” an officer said.

Police then decided to approach the forest department. “The investigation officer (IO) sent a letter to the department, asking it to ascertain how many trees were cut and how old they were. But they said this cannot be determined based on the recovered logs as no such technology was available with them,” a senior police officer said.

Police also approached several dendrologists, but they too could not ascertain the age. “The IO later visited the FRI and sent a letter to its director to find out the age of the recovered logs and the time period during which they were felled. A few days ago, the FRI conveyed that this can’t be ascertained by them, but they can ascertain the species and the charge will be Rs 30,000 per log,” the officer said.

The case first came to light in 2016, when a complaint against the club for allegedly felling at least 100 trees had been forwarded to the forest department. According to sources, the club had applied for permission to cut trees to expand a golf course, which was turned down.

Government officials had said an inspection of the site was ordered after CM Arvind Kejriwal received a complaint from club members. Officials in the forest department said a final report was filed with the Delhi Environment Ministry by Tree Officer (South) S K Muan Guite after an inspection. He had said logs of different sizes were being dumped in pits and covered with soil.

As per the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, no one can cut trees without permission from the forest department and paying for compensatory plantation.