Elephant Poaching Case In Balasore: 2 Forest Officials Suspended For Negligence

Balasore: Balasore Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) on Friday suspended two forest officials for dereliction of duty in an elephant poaching case at the Kuldiha sanctuary in Balasore.

The suspended forest officials have been identified as the Kuldiha forester and forest guard.

A tusker, with tusk missing, was found dead at Kuldiha Sanctuary on June 5. During the investigation, it was suspected that the tusker was killed on June 3. A showcause notice has also been issued to the Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Laxam Kumar Pradhan in this connection.

An eight-year-old tusker, also with its tusks missing, was found dead at a forest in Pancharida area of Nayagarh district in the last week of May.

Though the exact cause behind the death is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that poachers might have killed the elephant.