2 Forest Officials Suspended For Elephant Death In Odisha’s Dhenkanal

Dhenkanal: Following death of two elephants in quick succession in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, two Forest officials have been suspended from service.

Dhenkanal district forest officer (DFO) Prakashchand Gogineni has suspended Dadaraghati forester Saroj Kumar Behera and forest guard Swarnaprabha Seth suspended on charges of dereliction of duty. The two Forest officials faced the action for the death of a female elephant in Khesra forest near Ghagharamunda village under Dadaraghati forest section of Mahabir Road range on August 28.

Gogineni told the media that the forester and forest guard did not conduct patrolling in their area as per the protocol. There have been complaints that they were also not going on patrolling on regular basis.

“Though the office of the forest section had been issued a warning regarding possible killing of elephants by the poachers on August 26, the officials did not take necessary steps in this regard. Due to the negligence of duty on their part, an elephant was killed,” the DFO said. Both the posts will be filled up soon, he added.

The female elephant died after coming in contact with live electricity wire laid by poachers in the forest. The deceased elephant was 25 years old.

It may be noted that a few days after the incident, another elephant was found electrocuted in a forest near Baghagharia village under Hindol forest range in the district on September 3.

Also Read: Another Elephant Electrocuted In Odisha’s Dhenkanal