A CORRESPONDENT
JAGIROAD: An inquiry has been ordered by the Morigaon district administration into the alleged flouting of rules inside Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary by senior officers of Assam, an official said on Tuesday. Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary is expected to visit the sanctuary to look into the matter. It is alleged that two IAS officers and an IPS officer, along with their families, had visited the sanctuary on Sunday. One of the officers allegedly sat on the bonnet of a safari jeep and smoked cigarettes, while others alighted from the vehicles, both actions prohibited inside the protected forest.
The Jeep Safari Owners' Association of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary had on Monday written to Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, seeking an inquiry into the incident. They claimed that one commissioner-level officer and his friends (the other officers) and their families had alighted from the jeeps inside the sanctuary. The commissioner-level officer had sat on the bonnet of the jeep and smoked cigarettes, they claimed. The association said getting off vehicles and smoking cigarettes are prohibited inside the wildlife sanctuary. They claimed that when the jeep drivers and other staffers tried to prevent the visitors, the officers verbally abused them. The Morigaon Deputy Commissioner on Monday ordered a magistrate-level inquiry into the matter.
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