Uttarakhand Eco Tourism Scam: IFS Officer Who Reported Scam Shifted, Questions Mount on State Govt
On 24 August 2025, The Probe published an investigation revealing how the Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Uttarakhand government was allegedly shielding powerful officials embroiled in the eco-tourism scam. At the heart of the expose was a damning report filed by IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who on 24 December 2024 accused senior forest officials of corruption, money laundering and brazen siphoning of public funds. But instead of cracking down on the accused, the Dhami government has chosen to punish the whistleblower — by abruptly transferring Chaturvedi out of his post.
Just a day after The Probe’s story was published, on August 25, 2025, the Dhami government swiftly moved against the messenger. Chaturvedi, who was serving as Chief Conservator of Forests (Working Plan), has now been shunted to the Uttarakhand Forestry Training Academy (FTA) in Haldwani. The transfer lays bare Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s much-touted “anti-corruption drive” as nothing more than political theatre. Instead of taking action against the perpetrators of the eco-tourism scam, the government has chosen to punish and silence the whistleblower who brought to light corruption within the state’s forest department.
Sanjiv Chaturvedi is widely regarded as one of the nation’s brightest and most fearless minds, known for exposing corruption wherever he has served. Throughout his career, Chaturvedi has consistently taken on entrenched interests — and paid the price. In Haryana alone, he was transferred 12 times in just five years after he uncovered a series of scams within the state government. His integrity earned him the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for courageous public service. In Uttarakhand, he has spent the last nine years sidelined in non-field postings, yet even from these marginal positions he has been able to unearth corruption within the bureaucracy. In his latest transfer, Chaturvedi has been relegated to a non-operational role as Director of the Forestry Training Academy in Haldwani — a posting that sidelines him from core forest governance and enforcement, effectively tying his hands.
