Rajgangpur: The Forest Department on Friday suspended two staffers for dereliction of duty after decomposed body of a female elephant was found buried on the outskirts of Putulia village in Sonakhan forest under Rajgangpur Forest Range of Odisha’s Sundargarh district the previous night.
Those suspended are the forester Harish Jena and forest guard Sabita Kisan.
According to reports, they had spotted the decomposed carcass of the female elephant on Thursday night and informed the police, who rushed to the spot.
During the investigation, it was revealed that some villagers had killed the elephant and buried it after setting it on fire. The staff found an empty kerosene bottle near the spot. It is suspected that the elephant was killed 4-5 days ago.
Later, three persons of the nearby village were arrested and on the hunt for 10 more, who are absconding.
Meanwhile, the DFO, Forest Ranger and the local police have arrived at the spot.
Sources in the locality said that the villagers were fed up with the wild elephants for destroying their crops. Some villagers had also informed the media that on an average about 3-4 persons are being killed in elephant attack in this area every month. While one person was killed a week ago, another person had succumbed to the attack two days ago.
The Forest department said a total of 56 wild elephants have been spotted in Lathikata, Rajgangpur and Bisra blocks in Sundargarh district.
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