Assam: Jumbo burial; Numaligarh Refinery Limited officials held in Golaghat

A Correspondent

GOLAGHAT: The Golaghat Forest Department arrested two high-ranking officials of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) on Wednesday for allegedly destroying evidence and secretly burying a wild elephant in the NRL township area.

According to reports, two NRL officials, chief manager Ujjal Nayan Handique and manager Bedanga Kashyap, were arrested by the Forest Department under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Ujjwal Nayan Handique is the chief manager in the NRL Township area, and Bedanga Kashyap is the manager of NRL Township. Under the leadership of the two officials, the electrocuted wild elephant was secretly buried in the NRL Township area, and the evidence of the dead wild elephant was destroyed without informing the Forest Department. After several protests by various organizations and wildlife lovers, on Wednesday, the Forest Department called the two NRL officials for an investigation. After an investigation, the Golaghat Forest Department arrested them and produced them before the Golaghat district court.

 The continuous protest and demands by the Chatra Mukti Sangram Samiti under the leadership of central committee general secretary Pintu Gogoi, leaders of the Scheduled Caste Student Union, TAYPA, and the general public to properly investigate the matter have resulted in the department concerned arresting the officials involved in destroying evidence and secretly burying the wild elephant after six days.

Notably, on July 18, a wild elephant died after being electrocuted by an illegally installed high-powered electric wire near Butterfly Park in the Township of Numaligarh Refinery. Despite knowing that the area is a wild elephant habitat, the high-ranking officials of the Numaligarh Refinery, headed by the managing director of the Numaligarh Refinery, Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan, installed illegal high-powered electric wires. The installation of this high-powered electric wire killed the wild elephant on July 18, and the valuable organs of the elephant were cut off by a team led by the chief manager of the Township area of Numaligarh Refinery, Ujjwal Nayan Handique, and manager Bedanga Kashyap, who buried the dead elephant to destroy the evidence without informing the Forest Department and the police administration.

 Also Read: Assam: Wild jumbos from Manas National Park wreak havoc in Baska district (sentinelassam.com)

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