Summary:
Jaipur, Nov 28 (PTI) A female elephant is in the custody of the Rajasthan forest department after two men were caught for allegedly transporting the animal from Uttar Pradesh to Gujarat without a transit permit, a senior forest official said on Sunday.A local court has directed the forest department to keep the animal in its custody, while remanding the two men to judicial custody on Friday.
Former union minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi had written a letter to the state forest minister Hemaram Choudhary on Wednesday last demanding an impartial inquiry into the matter and action against the accused.
Officials said that on a tip off, a team of forest department personnel caught the two men identified as Mukut and Phool Singh near Simlawada in Dungarpur district on November 18.
Forest authorities produced them in the court of civil judge and judicial magistrate Simalwara, Dungarpur on Friday where the magistrate remanded them to judicial custody and posted the matter for next hearing on November 29.The custody of the elephant is with the forest department.Deputy Conservator of Forest, Dungarpur, Supong Shashi said that two men produced documents when they were stopped in Dungarpur but later it was established that they did not carry a valid transit permit.“The message to us was that an elephant is being smuggled following which we checked documents.
They said the elephant has a microchip but it was not initially detected.
The elephant owner, who was in touch through telephone, said he can help in detecting the chip.