The State forest department has placed under suspension a forest range officer on the charge of suppressing the death of an adult tusker in Cuttack district’s Athagarh forest area last year.
The carcass of the 15-year-old tusker with the pair of tusks intact had been retrieved on 27 August last year.
The forest range officer Ayesha Akhtar Nisha had allegedly disposed of the carcass without following Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
Though elephant, a scheduled animal under wildlife protection and is accorded highest protection, the official had allegedly kept the higher-ups in dark regarding the tusker death.
The carcass was buried and the tusks instead of being handed over to the divisional forest office had been kept in the forest range office, which violates the SOP provisions.
The forest range officer has been suspended; a senior official said adding that further inquiry is underway into the matter.