Karnataka forest dept launches online FIR system to prevent forest crime

Bengaluru: The Karnataka forest department on Tuesday launched an online/digital system for registering forest and wildlife-related cases, named ‘Garudakshi’.

The system will be implemented on a pilot basis in the Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru forest mobile squad, Bhadravati, Sirsi and Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Divisions, officials said.

Speaking after launching the Garudakshi online/digital FIR system developed by the Forest Department in collaboration with the WildLife Trust of India (WTI), state’s Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said that this system has been implemented to prevent increasing forest crime, and to ensure that the guilty are punished.

He said Garudakshi will be used as a weapon against forest crimes such as forest encroachment, illegal logging, poaching, trespassing, etc., Based on the field-level feedback on the functioning of this software, it will be further activated and expanded to all the divisions of the state in a phased manner and it will be made mandatory to file FIR through Garudakshi software, the minister said.

Noting that even though thousands of cases were registered, it was not possible to monitor from time to time as to in how many cases a charge sheet was filed, Khandre said, after the implementation of the online FIR system, it will be known in how many cases a charge sheet has been filed or not.

He said that the department officials can monitor forest crime cases of all zones from where they are sitting.

Those who have lodged a complaint about forest crime will get a copy of the FIR, and they will also have the opportunity to know whether a charge sheet has been filed or not, the minister said, and explained that as soon as the charge sheet is filed, a crime number (CC number) will be registered in the court, and the guilty will be punished after the trial is held.

“If an online FIR is filed regarding forest land encroachment, illegal tree cutting, and illegal hunting of wildlife, a charge sheet must be filed. There cannot be a long pendency. The High Court will also give instructions in this regard. This will lead to punishment for the land grabbers. Thus, the number of forest crimes will decrease significantly,” he said.