Chinese woman files complaint against MP forest officer

Chinese woman files complaint against MP forest officer
A young woman of Chinese origin has accused an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer from Madhya Pradesh of misbehaving with her at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, where he attended a training programme last month. The officer denied the charges.
In her early 20s, the woman was an assistant to the UBC coordinator who conducted the mid-career training programme for 33 IFS officers from India.
The alleged incident happened at around 10.30 pm on August 20 when the victim had gone to the room of Dr A K Bhattacharya, CEO of the Madhya Pradesh Eco-tourism Development Board.
She complained about the alleged misbehaviour to the UBC authorities.
The first week-long module of the programme, held from August 2 to 28, was conducted in Bangalore followed by a two-week module in Vancouver.
The last module was held at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) in Dehradun, which functions as a staff college for Indian Forest Service officers and organises mid-career training programmes for them.
The UBC coordinator, who was scheduled to conduct the last phase of the programme as well, chose to personally hand over his university?s report to the director of IGNFA.
Dr Bhattacharya admitted that his course certificate had been held back but denied the misbehaviour charges. ?She was very vibrant and that?s why she came to my room at night. Nothing untoward happened. She is of my daughter?s age,? he said.
The 1983-batch officer claimed the woman wanted to see photographs on his laptop when they went for a field visit and stayed in the room only for five minutes.
?Maybe someone saw her leaving my room late in the night which prompted her to lodge a complaint in an attempt to save her skin,? he claimed.
He said it was a mistake to let her in the room so late. ?Her complaint was an afterthought.?
In his 50s, Bhattacharya claimed he came to know about the complaint after reaching Dehradun on August 28. He submitted a letter explaining his side of the story to the IGNFA director.
Deputy Director of IGNFA Dr A K Wahal said: ?Some incident happened and we have sent the matter to the forest ministry for further action.?
Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Sartaj Singh said the state government was yet to receive any report from the Union Forest Ministry and would act only after getting a written report.