A division bench of Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar hearing a writ petition filed in 2018 in connection with deaths of elephants on tracks
Dutta had issued a video message and said if the post mortem report is not published by June 5, which is the World Environment Day, then it will indicate that the elephants were killed by direct or indirect influence of some officials of the Forest Department.
18 wild Asiatic elephants found dead in remote protected forest in India
May 14, 2021 / 5:50 AM / CBS/AFP
Indian authorities launched a probe Friday into the deaths of at least 18 elephants as a leading conservationist raised doubts that the animals were killed by lightning, the cause cited as likely by government officials.
The dead herd was found in the hilly Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest in the remote northeastern India state of Assam on Thursday. Forest officials and a local lawmaker, Jitu Goswami, told Agence France-Presse they believed the elephants died after lightning struck the forest.
This frame grab from video provided by KK Productions shows an Indian village boy paying respect to one of 18 wild Asiatic elephants found dead in the protected Kondali forest reserve in northeastern Assam state, India, on May 13, 2021. KK PRODUCTIONS via AP