Four years after Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Madan Nayak was bludgeoned to death by tourists at Dandeli, the Karnataka Forest Department has bought a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) site for the officer’s family as part of the compensation package.
On May 8, 2012, Mr. Nayak succumbed to injuries after he attempted to stop a 16-member group — most of them government employees — from feeding and antagonising crocodiles (which is against the law) in the Kali river near Dandeli. The altercation had turned violent and the tourists attacked him with stones, and even targeted his wife and two children.
The incident sparked off protests in Dandeli. Apart from monetary compensation, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) had promised land for the family in Bengaluru as Mr. Nayak was the only earning member.
On Monday, the Forest Department passed an order to purchase a 2,400 sq.ft. plot in Sir M. Visvesvaraya Layout —developed by the BDA — which is to be handed to the late officer’s wife, Sumati Madan Nayak. The department will bear the entire cost of the land, nearly Rs. 40.71 lakh, says the order.
Madan Nayak, ACF, was bludgeoned to death by tourists at Dandeli