Assam: Six arrested in connection with elephant deaths
GUWAHATI:
A team from the state forest department arrested six individuals involved in the electrocution of two adult female wild Asian elephants in the Digholdorioli area in Sivasagar district of Upper Assam on Saturday.
Sivasagar range under Sivasagar Territorial Forest Division registered a case against all the accused for violating the provisions under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the Assam Amendment Act, 2009.
Wild Asian elephants are a Schedule I species protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
“The arrested accused caused the death of the two elephants by laying illegal electric fences around rabi crops in an illegal cultivation area at Digholdorioli grazing land,” an official statement issued on Monday said.
The team also seized physical evidence, and preliminary reports by the veterinary officer confirmed electrocution as the cause of death of the elephants - aged 23 and 26 years.
“All the six accused persons were apprehended on December 26, 2020, on the day of detection of the wildlife offence by the team from the Sivasagar Forest Division. After interrogation and investigation, the accused persons were arrested on Sunday, produced at the CJM court in Sivasagar and sent to judicial custody,” the statement said.
The Wildlife (Protection) Assam Amendment Act 2009 provides enhanced punishment and penalty. Offences under the Act are triable in the Court of Sessions.
(Edited by Andre Kongri)
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