Forest Beat Officer Accuses Nelapattu Range Officer of Molestation, Probe Initiated

Ananathapur: A forest beat officer reporting to Doravarisatram forest office in Tirupati district has accused Nelapattu forest range officer (FRO) Vara Prasad of molesting her.

In a complaint lodged with the Doravarisatram police station on Saturday, beat officer Sheik Arhatunnissa, working on the Vedurupattu beat, charged that FRO Vara Prasad asked her to come to the office at Doravarisatram on official work. When she went along with her husband, Prasad sent her husband to bring Xerox copies of her report.

Arhatunnissa alleged that when her husband went to get the Xerox copies, the FRO sent his attendant on another work and called her into his chambers.

“Soon after I went into the chamber, he hugged and molested me. I ran out of the office and fell unconscious,” she stated in her complaint to the police.

Arhatunnissa said a staff member rushed and rescued her, which prevented Vara Prasad from further misbehaving with her. The beat officer stated that the staff member handed her over to her husband when the latter returned after a few minutes.

Doravarisatram police station sub-inspector Tirumala Rao has registered a case based on the complaint by Arhatunnissa.

Tirupati DFO Samuel has been asked to conduct a probe into the forest beat officer’s complaint.