Chhattisgarh: The Chhattisgarh forest department has suspended four forest officials as a result of sheer negligence and irresponsibility over the deaths of three elephants in the forest of Balrampur and Surajpur districts which took place earlier this week.
The four officials including Sub-divisional forest officers (SDFO) were suspended for their poor surveillance. All the three innocent elephants belonged to the same herd and were roaming carefree in the jungles.
According to the sources, the SDFO, KS Khutiya along with two forest rangers and one guard were suspended for the dereliction of duty. Alongside, a show-cause notice has also been provided to the District Forest Officer (DFO).
The forest minister of the state, Mohammad Akhbar said that a legal probe would be authorized for the investigation of such negligence. The probe would be headed by the former principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF). Forest officials claimed that this case was the first death case of an animal in Ganeshpur. The area has not reported any death cases of animals yet.
The first elephant died of cardiac arrest on Tuesday. The second death took place on Wednesday due to toxicity in the body. The third elephant died of infection. The second and third death took place on Wednesday.