Athagarh jumbo killings: Odisha forest division in injury management mode as one other carcass exhumed

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Discovery of yet one more tusker’s skeletal stays from Athagarh forest division on Wednesday has raised the warmth on Forest division which has assigned a Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF)-ranked officer to get to the roots of the difficulty. 

Carcass of a male tusker, suspected to have been killed and buried, was exhumed by officers close to Kharada village inside Baramba vary the place the Special Task Force (STF) of the Crime Branch had dug out stays of a male and a feminine elephants on June 2 and three. 

“We came to know about the incident during investigation in the previous two cases. Though skeletal remains of the tusker were recovered from the site where it had been buried, its tusks are missing. A probe has been launched in this regard,” Athagarh DFO Sudarshan Gopinath Jadav stated.

The suppression of elephant deaths in a single division has, nonetheless, introduced below scanner roles of senior officers. In final 12 months and a half, Athagarh division has been helmed by three DFOs and the way the spate of deaths and their subsequent suppression escaped their discover has raised the hackles.

The Wildlife Wing has already booked and arrested three watchers and a forest guard below Wildlife Protection Act. Two foresters are absconding. Three vary officers have been positioned below suspension since November.

However, below strain to go deep into the entire mess which has uncovered full lack of monitoring and supervision on the division-level, a red-faced Wildlife Wing has requested CCF Dr Manoj Nair to research. 

Sources stated that roles of senior officers of the division will probably be probed within the sequence of deaths which had been coated up. The instances are believed to have taken place over a interval of two years.

“Elephant deaths just cannot be hidden. All this happened in one beat and one section. Two carcasses were found within a few hundred metres of a village. Something is amiss. Make no mistake, exemplary action would be taken,” stated a senior officer.

Carcass of one other tusker exhumed in Athagarh 

What is perplexing is STF may get a lead into the problems and but, the officers on the division-level, who’re in command of the area and have strong data sources, had been unaware. Interestingly, though STF has led the expose with assist of informers, it has handed over investigation into the instances to Forest division which, successfully, is now probing position of its personal workers.

“This could lead to conflict of interest. We have requested Crime Branch to take over the probe for a fair probe. In the past, the Crime Branch had successfully probed into sensational wildlife crimes in the State,” stated the senior official.

Meanwhile, Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Angul Circle, M Yogajayanand stated, “All incidents related to elephant deaths in Athagarh division is being thoroughly probed and stringent action will be taken against those found guilty.”