COIMBATORE: "How did an anti-poaching watcher and a sanitary worker manage to take two tusks from an elephant carcass inside Pollachi forest range?"
This is the question posed by officials of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) while issuing notice to the two forest staff in question.
Anti-poaching watcher K Samiyappan and sanitary worker A Kathavarayan are alleged to have removed the tusks near the Aliyar dam. "Usually the tusks need to be removed with a sickle or an axe after a postmortem examination. Standard procedure is to keep the tusks at the forest office. However in this case, the duo managed to take the tusks without any equipment as the carcass was old. They managed to sneak the tusks out of the forest by tying the tusks to the legs and hiding them beneath their dhotis," said a forest official.
Officials said they had found a GPS signal device missing in Vedikaranpallam near Aliyar, where the animal was found dead. “The suspects had later switched on the stolen GPS device to prove that they did not visit Vedikaranpallam. They eventually caved in and confessed to have committed the crime," the official added
The official said that Samiyappan and Kathavarayan had been relieved of their duties. "We have also issued notices to two others who were negligent during this incident of poaching. We are also investigating them," said the official.