Bengaluru: In a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Lok Sabha MP Maneka Gandhi demanded a probe into the electrocution of an elephant in Hassan last year. She claimed that the Forest Department was trying to protect the accused at the request of the local MP Prajwal Revanna.
The charges, however, were denied by a Forest Officer who was working on the investigation and said that three accused had already been arrested.
“Last year, a large tusker elephant (there are less than 1,000 left in India) was electrocuted by a farmer deliberately. The tusks were cut off and the elephant was buried with the help of a JCB. The tusks were offered for sale in Bengaluru. Animal welfare officers led by Sharath Babu worked closely with the Chennammanakere Achukattu police to seize the tusks,” stated Gandhi.
“The accused were arrested, they confessed. The police dug up the carcass, took samples for laboratory certification and then handed over the carcass for disposal to the Hassan forest staff as per directions of the court,” the letter read.
