AJMER: A court here on Monday denied anticipatory bail to a person accused of illegally keeping a seven-year-old
elephant calf
and transporting it from
Ajmer
to 'Hathi Gaon' at Amber near Jaipur.
Advocate representing the forest department Tanuj Gupta said that the accused on Monday was unable to show authorized ownership of the elephant calf and was unable to prove that he moved the calf with permission. He added that the accused said that elephant was not a wild animal.
The accused is charged for illegally keeping an elephant calf without ownership and transporting it illegally as well as using the animal for marriages and processions.
The department had recovered elephant calf Suman from Hathi Gaon on May 28. Ranger Amar Singh Choudhary took its custody and brought it back after a complaint was filed on May 25. At present, the custody of the elephant calf is with the forest department. They are planning to rehabilitate the calf to Rajaji National Park.
People for Animals, an NGO, is demanding to rehabilitate all elephants used for transportation and tourism at Amber as most of them are allegedly suffering from tuberculosis and many are blind. The NGO has filed a criminal writ in
Rajasthan High Court.
Priyanka, lawyer, People for Animals, said, that the elephants are native of Assam and are not adjustable in the atmosphere of Rajasthan, "This is cruelty against wild animals and they are trying to save all elephants in Hathi Gaon so that they could have better lives in the forest." She further said that ADG, Wild Life, had also directed the forest department of Rajasthan to take further action.