A forensic report has concluded that the death of 31 monkeys and 14 rock pigeons on December 15, 2018 on a plot in Rasayani in Raigad district was caused ‘not due to poisoning’. Forest officers said they received the forensic report on Friday. The forest officers had initially suspected that the leakage of a poisonous gas had caused the deaths. However, the report said that no traces of poison were found.

According to authorities, the plot originally belonged to the Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited (HOCL). Around 20 acres was later handed over to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the remaining to the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). The carcasses were found 50 metres away from the ISRO plant on the land belonging to the BPCL. The ISRO plant in Rasayani is the only plant in Asia that produces dinitrogen tetroxide, which is used as a fuel for satellites.

‘Will file charge sheet’

Nandkishore Kupte, sub-divisional forest officer, said, “We will be filing a charge sheet against ISRO, HOCL and BPCL officials and submitting a report to the court within eight days as per our findings. The court will decide on the course of action.”

Mr. Kupte said that after the incident last year, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) was asked to take appropriate action. The ISRO plant was then shut for close to two months and later reopened after it complied with the MPCB’s regulations. The organisations were also asked to send their workers for inquiry to find out who was involved in burying the carcasses.

The forest officers then exhumed the carcasses in the presence of Mr. Kupte, Range Officer Sonawane and a regional officer from the MPCB. Mr. Kupte said, “A veterinary doctor from Panvel had conducted the post-mortem at the spot and he said that the monkeys died of brain haemorrhage, which could have been caused by the inhalation of a poisonous gas. We needed a forensic confirmation so we requested the forensic laboratory to prepare a report at the earliest. The forensic report could not have found poison inside the carcasses as traces of gas don’t remain in internal organs for long.”

Last year, eight people, including officers of HOCL, BPCL and ISRO, along with a JCB driver, were booked under Sections 9 (prohibition of hunting), 39 (wild animals to be government property), 52 (attempts to contravene, or abets the contravention of, any of the provisions of this Act) and 58 (offences by Companies) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The accused were later released on furnishing a bond.