Bhubaneswar, April 3 :    Bhubaneswar, April 3:  A district collector in impoverished western Orissa has sought the intervention of the chief secretary, alleging police harassment and fabrication of criminal cases against him. Bishnupad Sethi, collector of Nuapada district, in a letter to the Orissa chief secretary last month has detailed how certain members of local police, encouraged by politicians, have ganged up for vested interests. Sethi, who was assaulted by Nuapada zilla parishad president Hitesh Bagarty on September 27 last year, was recently chargesheeted by the crime branch along with the zilla parishad president in connection with the case. The incident occurred when the collector was waiting to receive revenue minister Biswabhusan Harichandan. A copy of the letter dated March 22, available with The Telegraph, has brought out the sordid tale of high-handedness by the police, who did not seek the mandatory permission from the state government under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code before chargesheeting a district magistrate. The crime branch has chargesheeted the collector under Sections 294, 341, 323 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, acting on the FIR filed by Bagarty. The matter was first inquired into by the revenue divisional commissioner (southern division), Berhampur and the deputy inspector-general of human rights protection cell, Orissa. Though both the RDC and the DIG had supported the claim of innocence of the collector, the police did not take any action against the accused. 'The investigation by the crime branch has not been fair at all. In fact, fabricated and stereotyped statements of witnesses have been relied upon while doing the same. To ascertain its veracity, this can be cross-checked with the inquiry report of the RDC (southern division), Berhampur and the DIG,'' the letter to the chief secretary said. Sethi said as some officials and politicians are against him for certain reasons, they have decided to get even with him through this case. 'They have tried to book me under some sections of the Indian Penal Code so that the local police, who did not do their job properly, could be saved. Besides, some politicians having a nexus with contractors and middlemen, exploiting the poor people of Nuapada district for a long time would benefit from such a process culminating in my transfer from Nuapada,'' he stated. 'I am completely shaken after going through the report and I do not think it is now worthwhile to continue in the IAS to serve in the state of Orissa, which I had joined with a grand dream,'' he said, seeking a CBI inquiry. Staines case The Orissa High Court has granted more time for the speedy trial of the Staines murder case following an appeal by the CBI. The CBI had probed the murder of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two children at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on the night of January 27, 1999. Earlier, the court had granted the first 10 days of every month for the trial of the case. The remaining 20 days were allotted for trial of other cases against Dara Singh, the principal accused in the Staines murder case. The court decision was conveyed to Khurda sessions judge Mahendranath Patnaik this morning by the CBI prosecutor as soon as the trial resumed.