Keonjhar: Following an investigation by forest officials, Keonjhar Forest Department suspended two forest officers, Wednesday in connection with the death of two elephants whose carcasses were found inside Baitarani (B) forest reserve, Sunday.
The suspended officers have been identified as Pian Nayak, forester of Joda section and Dolagobinda Deo, forest guard of Jurudi beat house.
Sources said that locals found carcasses of a male and a female elephant from the forest reserve in the wee hours of Sunday. However, the tusks of the male elephant were missing, officials said.
Following this, the forest department launched a thorough probe into the death of the two wild elephants, Tuesday. Preliminary investigations indicated that the animals were killed by poachers as the tusks of the male elephant were missing, the official said.
As a result of which the department suspended two forest officers Wednesday.
Notably, the female elephant was around 20 years old and the carcass seemed to be lying there for more than a week. The male tusker, aged around 22 years, was suspected to have died around three days ago.
PNN