DHENKANAL/BHUBANESWAR: Three employees of Forest department and CESU were on Saturday arrested by the State Crime Branch for neglecting their duties which resulted in the death of seven elephants due to electrocution on October 27.Of the three, two are from Forest department and one is from CESU. One of the arrested, Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, a contractual Diploma Electrical Engineer of Meramandali section, was earlier dismissed from service. The other two, Pravakar Rana, forester of Meramandali section and Girish Chandra Dehury, forest guard of Meramandali forest beat, were placed under suspension after the incident.

“Three teams had conducted the investigation and forensic evidence was collected. The three have been arrested and further investigation is underway,” Crime Branch ADG Santosh Upadhyay said. The case was registered by the agency on October 28 under Sections 166, 429 and 34 of IPC read with Section 146 of Electricity Act and Section 51 of Wildlife (Protection Act). The three were produced before a court in Dhenkanal on Saturday.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had ordered a Crime Branch probe on October 28 into the tragic deaths of the elephants. The Range Officer of Dhenkanal Forest Range had registered a case after the elephants, including a tusker and five females, were electrocuted after coming in contact with 11-KV power line. Kantabania police had also registered a case based on the complaint filed by Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Dhenkanal before the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch.

The 11-kv power line was left hanging low near Kamalanga village for the  last several months. An electricity pole near the site of the incident had also tilted. The investigation revealed that the officials were aware of the presence of at least 25 elephants near Kamalanga village on October 23. However, they did not act and failed to fix the sagging power line or discontinue the power supply. 
IG of Crime Branch Arun Bothra visited the spot.