Guard buries jumbo calf

BARIPADA: A forest guard posted in Kaptipada forest range buried the carcass of six-month-old male elephant calf without intimating her higher authorities.

Sources said forest guard Anita Singh buried the elephant calf with help of some locals on Sunday at Raipal forest beat near Kaptipada range of Mayurbhanj district. The calf is believed to have been killed in a fight with a male tusker. Anita had received information from some locals about the carcass following which she rushed to the spot and buried it. Later, a joint forest team of Kaptipada and Oupada range rushed to the spot and found the decomposed carcass, which was buried inside the forest.

Baripada DFO Swayam Mallik said a veterinary doctor from Kaptipada, along with their counterparts from Similipal Tiger Reserve, conducted the autopsy of the carcass. He said the Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) has been ordered to conduct a probe into the matter. Mallik said Anita will be suspended as she committed the act with the intention of covering up the matter.