Why Forest Department did not oppose bail of accused persons

 

Sanjib Kumar Roy

Port Blair, Oct 04: It seems that the Elephant Tusk Case, busted by CID unit, has opened a can of worms.  As per Wild Life Act 1972, section 51 the police department can only detect a wildlife case and seize materials but can’t arrest the accused or run further investigations. The seized materials and accused have to be handed over to Forest Department for further course of action.

In the Elephant Tusk case also the same procedure was followed and all recovered properties along with detained persons were handed over to the Range Officer cum Assistant Wild Life Warden,MayabunderRangeon30/09/12for further action.

Surprisingly instead of keeping the accused for 24 hours (which is permitted in law) before producing to court, the accused were immediately produced to court, from where the accused got bail one by one. Sadly the Forest Department did not even oppose the bail. Why the Forest Department was in hurry in this case?

Not only this Forest Department is now saying that the seized wildlife materials are not Elephant Tusk but probably bones of some whale fish.

When Contacted the Division Forest Officer of Mayabunder Mr. Anish Kalkor said that only after various tests it can be established whether the materials are Elephant Tusk or not. “In my opinion these are not Elephant Tusks. These are probably bones of whale fish. For authentication we have to send these materials to either Wildlife Crime Control, Chennai or to ZSI,” Mr. Kolkar added.

The statement from Forest Department clearly indicates that how serious the forest Department is in this case. Meanwhile, Andaman Sheekha has learnt that an elephant was actually killed atLandfallIslandfor these Tusks and the remains of the body are still there inLandfallIsland. The Administration must constitute a special task force to trace out the body of the elephant atLandfallIsland, which will prove that poaching of elephant is going on in theseIslands. The Administration must take concrete steps to arrest the wildlife offenders. Good efforts of CID unit must not go waste.