BENGALURU: Animal rights activist and Member of Parliament Maneka Gandhi on Monday wrote to CM Basavaraj Bommai seeking his intervention into the death of an elephant owing to electrocution and poaching of its tusks. She said that the entire case has been taken away from Hassan forest department and given to the Vigilance Department for investigation.
In the letter she alleged that local MP Prajwal Revanna tried to put pressure on the forest department officials to close the case as the accused are the supporters of his party. A copy of the letter written by Maneka is available with The New Indian Express.
She was referring to the case which occurred in 2021 where a tusker was electrocuted by a farmer, after which the tusks were cut off and the carcass was buried with the help of a backhoe in Hassan district.
The letter stated that Hassan forest staffers “mischievously” filed new cases applying the same Wildlife Acts and arrested two people, helping others escape. The accusedapproached the court claiming duplication of works bytwo different agencies and obtained bail. Maneka accused “RFO Hassan of not following the law.”