Four forest officials of Saptur Forest Range under the Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, Srivilliputtur, were placed under suspension on Monday after it was found that they had suppressed the information about death of an elephant and burned its carcass inside the forest. The suspended officials are a Range Officer, Forester, Forest Guard and Forest Watcher.
According to official sources, the Wildlife Warden of the sanctuary, P. Mohammed Shabab, ordered their suspension after information about the alleged burning of the elephant carcass reached him.
While the incident is said to have happened in May, it came to light only recently. After an initial enquiry proved that the officials were involved in suppression of information, they were placed under suspension on Monday.
Official sources said that the incident has happened in the Mallapuram beat, deep inside the forest where the height of mountain ranges is around 900 metres. “Since the incident happened deep inside the forest, the information did not come out immediately. The forest here is thick and sometimes it takes hours to trek deep into it,” Mr. Shabab said.
Stating that a detailed enquiry by an official of the rank of Assistant Conservator of Forest has been ordered, he said further details about the incident would be known after the enquiry is completed. When asked about the cause of the death of the elephant, he said that would be known only after the enquiry.
The sanctuary, on 485 sq km of the Western Ghats in Virudhunagar and Madurai districts, is home to elephants, tigers, leopards, sloth bears and deer.
