The forest department on Wednesday arrested two officials of the Numali Refinery Limited (NRL) in connection with the recent death and burial of a wild elephant on the premises of the PSU without informing the authorities concerned in Assam's Golaghat district, an official said.
The forest department summoned NRL Chief Manager Ujjawal Nayan Handique and Manager Bedanga Kashyap and questioned them for six hours.
The two were later handed over to the police for further legal proceedings.
A female elephant was suspected to have been electrocuted on July 18 after coming in contact with an exposed power cable in the butterfly park, which is a part of the refinery.
The NRL authorities had buried the elephant without informing the forest department and following the necessary protocols.
"The law will take its own course as the matter is with the police," the company spokesperson on Wednesday.
The elephant was buried before it came to the notice of the management and it was done primarily due to the fear of attack by the rest of the herd present nearby, the spokesperson had said earlier.
''There was no intention to cover up the incident as alleged by some quarters,'' the spokesperson had said.
Several environment conservation organisations had expressed shock that the refinery authorities buried the elephant without notifying the forest department, in violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 as amended in 2022.
Elephants are classified as Schedule I animals under the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022, and recognized as endangered species, besides as the National Heritage Animal in the country, deserve the highest level of protection and respect, the organisations had pointed out.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
