Axe on Kaziranga director

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, June 15: Director of Kaziranga tiol Park Musakar Ali was today placed under suspension while the State government hinted at an NIA probe into the rampant rhino killings as heads rolled in the Forest department, a week after new Forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma’s maiden visit to the park which was marred by a slew of controversies.

“He (director) misguided me. I was kept away from the spot (where the rhino was killed). We have doubts about his intention,” the Forest minister said today.

Alleging that there has been a conspiracy to malign her image, Brahma said the government is mulling an NIA probe into the rhino killings. Poachers had gunned down a rhino during the Forest minister’s maiden visit to the park last week. Brahma was initially not informed about the incident. She came to know of it from the media at night even though the rhino was killed several hours earlier in the afternoon. The carcass was recovered after 48 hours. It was alleged to have been buried by some park officials with salt to cover up the incident. The Forest minister was later uble to visit the spot as the park authorities could not make the “necessary arrangements”.