Recovery of elephant skeleton in Athagarh: 6 arrested, 2 forest officials suspended

Cuttack: Taking a serious note of the recovery of an elephant skeleton in the Athagarh area of Odisha’s Cuttack district, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) suspended two forest officials today.

According to reports, the PCCF suspended two forest officials who have been identified as Badamba ranger Suresh Sarangi and forester Manoj Das.

This apart, as many as six persons – a forest guard, owner of the land, a hunter, and three Forest Watchers, also were arrested in connection with the case. They were forwarded to court after their arrest.

It is to be noted here that the Special Task Force (STF) of the State Crime Branch had earlier on June 3 month unearthed an elephant skeleton from the Athgarh forest Division.

Prior to that, the STF had unearthed another elephant’s skeletal remnants from the Chandragiri forest under the Gopalpur Beat earlier on June 4.