Two Forest department personnel were suspended for negligence of duty in Odisha on Wednesday, three days after two wild elephants were found electrocuted by poachers in Keonjhar district, officials said. Forester of Joda forest section Pean Nayak and forest guard Dolagobinda Deo have been placed under suspension with immediate effect, a forest official said.
A preliminary investigation into the death of the two elephants suggested that there was negligence on part of the forester and the forest guard and both have been suspended, Keonjhar Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Santosh Joshi said.
The death of a female and a male elephant had raised questions about field intelligence and patrolling as the forest officials in the area were clueless about the incident till they were informed by local people.
The Forest Department had launched a thorough probe on Monday after the wild elephants were found dead inside a reserve forest area.
The carcasses of the female and male elephants were recovered by forest officials near Gurubeda area from Baitarani (B) reserve forest on Sunday following inputs from locals, a forest official said.
The tusks of the male elephant were missing and efforts were on to ascertain the actual cause of the death of the jumbos, officials said, adding preliminary investigation suggested that the animals were killed after being electrocuted by poachers.
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