Boudh: In a horrific incident, forest officials have been accused of chopping the carcass of a tusker into pieces and burying it in the middle of the night in Baghiapada Section’s Bankamundi Reserve Compartment-8 forest under Boudh forest division.
Such an act is seen as an attempt by the forest officials to cover up the poaching that exposes the negligence of their duties. Local residents have levelled serious allegations against forest officials. According to sources, a carcass of an elephant was spotted at the reserve compartment Tuesday. Just one day later, another carcass was spotted Wednesday.
Fearing outrage over the death of two jumbos within two days, forest officials reportedly buried the carcass in the middle of the night. Worse, they even used a machine to build a road and show the graveyard as part of the newly constructed road in the forest to avoid suspicion. “We spotted the carcass and informed the officials concerned. Tusk of the elephant was also missing. We are sure it was hunted by poachers for ivory.
But, we wonder why they buried the carcass and tried to construct a road to hide the truth,” a local said. The matter came to the fore after locals alerted a few media persons about the incident. Locals have seized salt and phenyl used to bury the carcass. A few pieces of meat from the carcass also have been seized from the spot, reports said. When contacted, Boudh forest division officer Debapriya Kamp said, “Yes, two carcasses were recovered. One of them was a tusker. I’m not sure, if the tusk was intact in the tusker before its burial. I have ordered a probe into the sudden burial of the carcass.”