Similipal Elephant Poaching Witness Death Case: 3 Forest dept Employees Arrested

Mayurbhanj: Jashipur police have arrested three forest department employees on charges of murder of the witness of Similipal elephant poaching. They were arrested after their anticipatory bail petitions got rejected.

The arrested accused were identified as Shiv Shankar Samal Jenabil ranger in-charge, forester Chandrabhanu Behera, and forest guard Binod Kumar Das.

The deceased, identified as Turam Purty was the only eyewitness of the alleged poaching and burning of the carcass of a wild tusker in the Similipal Tiger Reserve in the Mayurbhanj district.

Purty’s wife had filed a complaint at Jashipur Police Station. She had lodged FIR against the three accused.

Reportedly, some forest staff had burnt an elephant carcass. After burning, they threw the charred remains to a nearby stream to destroy the evidence. They killed the jumbo and removed its tusks in the core area of the tiger reserve. Purty was present there and he sent some photos of the incident to the higher authorities.