Staff Reporter :
A Supreme Court lawyer on Wednesday in a legal notice urged the government to form a judicial inquiry team to probe into the death of the stranded Indian elephant in Bangladesh.
The secretaries of fisheries and livestock, forest and environment, home affairs and Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD), Directorate of Livestock and deputy commissioner of Jamalpur have been served the notice.
Younus Ali Akanda, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court served that notice saying the Indian elephant that entered into the Bangladesh territory through Sharishabari upazila border in Jamalpur died on August 16 for being administered excessive tranquilizer.
“There might be irresponsibility and negligency on the part of the Forest Department in the rescuing and providing treatment to the elephant,” said Younus Ali Akanda in his notice.
“The persons who are responsible for the death of the elephant should be brought to justice,” the notice added.
The elephant appeared to be fine on Sunday but it quickly became dehydrated after being struck in the swamp for days.
Monsoon-triggered flooding carried the male elephant from upstream India before he became trapped in a swamp in Jamalpur district three weeks ago.
Authorities had planned to rescue it and take it to the safari park near the capital Dhaka.
Earlier, Indian wildlife authorities abandoned plans to take the elephant back because it was unlikely that it would be welcomed again by his herd in the hilly forests of the remote northeastern state of Assam.
