Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh): Burning the carcass of a six-year-old tigress without completing formalities has kicked up a row in the forest department.
The officers were keeping mum over the issue after tigress was found dead in the Kalagota Nullah in Bori village a week ago.
But after a photograph of the dead tigress went viral on social media, divisional forest officer Adhar Gupta suspended deputy ranger Tikaram Hanote and Bahyatikur forest guard Himanshu Ghopare on Sunday.
Failure to complete the formalities before burning the body of the tigress led to the suspensions. Six security guards were taken into custody on Sunday. They said they had burnt the body of the tigress after receiving instructions from the deputy ranger and forest guard.
On the basis of the statements given by the security guards, the senior officers recommended registering a criminal case against Hanote and Ghormare. All six security guards were presented to the Waraseoni court on Monday and sent to jail.
The security guards burnt the body of the tigress on July 30. A worker clicked the photograph of the tigress on his mobile phone and made it viral on social media on Saturday.
The senior officials of the forest department collected the ashes of the body of the tigress from the spot. According to the provisions of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), after the death of a tiger, 100 km of the area where it dies is sealed so that the evidence is not destroyed.
There are also provisions for informing the ranger and deputy ranger about the death; besides, nobody is allowed to enter the sealed area. The samples of various parts of the body of the tiger or tigress are collected in the presence of a representative of NTCA and Tehsildar.
The samples are sent to a forensic laboratory for testing. Afterwards, the body is burnt in the presence of senior officials of the forest department. But in the case of the six-year-old tigress, such norms were not followed.
