Nayagarh: The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) suspended Friday two forest department officials posted at Pancharida area under Daspalla block in Nayagarh district on charges of dereliction of duty. They are forester Kailash Pradhan and guard Biswajit Samantaray. The suspension of the officials came following the recovery of the carcass of a five-year-old tusker with its tusks missing from a forest in Pancharida area Tuesday.
The carcass was found in Gochha reserve forest. While forest officials are trying to suppress the incident claiming that the pachyderm died due to heatstroke, locals have different opinions.
“If the tusker had died of sunstroke, then why are its tusks missing. Where are the tusks? We suspect a racket is behind the killing of the elephant and smuggling its tusks,” a local said. Moreover, the people here accused the forest officials of being hand in glove with poachers.
The matter came to light after some locals who had ventured into the forest Tuesday morning saw the carcass and alerted officials. Then a probe was launched.
According to reports, a herd comprising seven tuskers strayed into the Gochha reserve forest from Daspalla a few days back. The carcass belongs to one of the tuskers, locals said.
Although the pachyderm had died four to five days back as the carcass had completely decayed, forest officials came to know of it only after being informed by the villagers. This clearly shows the negligence of the forest department, locals said.
Forest officials conducted an autopsy and have buried the carcass.
A hearth was found near the spot where the carcass was lying. Locals alleged that poachers had cooked and feasted before decamping with the tusks.
The government is pumping in crores to dig pits and store water for wild animals, but the incident is a glaring example of the negligence of the forest department.
People said forest guards have not been seen anywhere in the area for months together. The beat house has remained locked for months. This gives a chance to poachers to continue killing animals.
PNN
