Forester Bidyadhar Behera and Forest Guard Saroj Naik of Guali section under the Barbil Range have been suspended on the issue of death of an elephant calf.
The male elephant calf was found dead in the Choramalda forest on July 7 and its vital organs had already decomposed, for which it was difficult to perform postmortem.
Notably, more than 20 elephants have died after Santosh Joshi joined as the DFO, Keonjhar, about three years ago. Out of this, in the Champua- Barbil Range four elephants have died in the last two and a half months. DFO Joshi’s indifference towards the situation had earlier drawn media criticism.
Sources said Joshi has taken action against the subordinate staffs to protect the concerned senior officers.
