Numaligarh Refinery officers in Assam arrested for burying ‘electrocuted’ wild elephant carcass

Guwahati: Forest personnel in Assam on Wednesday arrested two officers of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) on charges of burying the carcass of a wild elephant recently without informing the forest personnel.

The officials–Ujjal Nayan Handique, chief manager of NRL Township, and Bedanga Kashyap, manager of NRL Township, have been charged under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 2022, official sources said. They were produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Golaghat, which remanded them to 14-days judicial custody.

The female elephant reportedly died after coming in contact with an electric wire inside the butterfly park situated adjacent to the refinery on July 18. The carcass was buried at around 8 am but the forest staff were informed in the evening. The forest department exhumed the carcass on July 19 and conducted a port-mortem as per provisions in the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, which was amended in 2022.

The state forest department registered a case on Sunday after CM Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that action would be initiated as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Aaranyak, a biodiversity conservation group here, on Monday said burial of the elephant without informing the forest department was violation of the Section 39 and 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act 2022.

“The illegal disposal of the elephant’s carcass not only undermines the legal framework designed to protect endangered species but also reflects a concerning disregard for the ecological integrity of the region. We call upon the authorities to take immediate action to address this situation,” said the NGO in a statement on Monday.

NRL spokesperson Madhuchanda Adhikary on Monday told DH that the elephant was buried fearing attack by the rest of the herd, which was present there.

“This was before the incident came to the notice of the management. There was no intention to cover up the incident. We are co-operating in the investigation,” she said.

Published 24 July 2024, 17:08 IST

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