E-Paper
Odisha forms SIT to probe 4 elephant deaths in Athagarh forest division
The decision comes a day after the Union ministry of environment and forests asked the Odisha government to submit a report on the elephant deaths
The Odisha government on Thursday formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the series of elephant deaths and recovery of skeletal remains of jumbos from the Athagarh forest division in Cuttack district a day after the Union ministry of environment and forests asked the state government to submit a report on the incidents, officials said.
Four elephant deaths have been reported from the Athagarh forest division since the beginning of this month. On June 2 and 3, a crime branch special task force dug out remains of a male and a female elephant respectively from the forests in the division. On June 14, carcass of a male tusker, suspected to be killed and buried, was exhumed by officials in the same division. On June 15, another tusker, which was found with gunshot wounds near a rivulet in the Narasinghapur forest range a week ago, succumbed to the wounds.
Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Shashi Paul on Thursday said that a high-level special investigation team headed by a chief conservator of forests has been formed to find out the exact reasons behind the rise in such cases of late.
The PCCF said chief conservator of forests Manoj Nayar will head the three-member probe panel while the regional chief consrvator of forests, a wildlife conservator and a senior official of the crime branch not below the rank of Dy SP will be part of the SIT. The DFO of Athagarh, whose role is under scanner, will no longer be a part of the investigating team.
The suppression of elephant deaths in the forest division has brought under scanner the roles of senior officers.
The wildlife wing of the state government has already booked and arrested three watchers and a forest guard under the Wildlife Protection Act. Two foresters are still on the run. Three range officers have been placed under suspension.
Union environment and forests minister Bhupendra Yadav on Wednesday tweeted that his ministry had sought a report from the Odisha government on elephant poaching incidents in the state. Later, the Project Elephant division of his ministry said in a letter to the state government that strict action under the Wildlife Protection Act should be taken against those involved in the killings.
“My ministry has taken cognisance of the incidents and the matter has been taken up with the state government for strict action against the poachers to ensure protection of our wildlife heritage,” Yadav tweeted. He was responding to a tweet by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the death of the wounded elephant in the Athagarh divison, which was shot by suspected poachers.
Elephant conservationists have alleged that though a circular issued by the state government in 2012 said DFOs would be held accountable for each and every unnatural death of elephants, it has mostly remained on paper.
“The finding of an elephant body whose death is unnatural would mean filing a case, investigating and trying to apprehend the culprits, a tedious work for an officer. The fear of being punished with suspension for dereliction of duties prompt lower-level staff not to report an unnatural death as seniors of the division do not offer any support or instill confidence. Needless to say, since unnatural deaths continue to be covered up or reported as natural, ivory hunters continue to act with impunity knowing well that the protectors themselves would shield them,” alleged wildlife activist Biswajit Mohanty.
