Mayurbhanj: In yet another development in the mysterious death of a contractual forest employee Turam Purty, who was said to be an eyewitness of the poaching of a tusker and burning of the carcass at Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), his wife on Thursday lodged a written complaint against there forest staff.
Almost a week after the death of Purty, his wife Chilam Purty, today lodged a complaint at Jashipur police station in Mayurbhanj, alleging that Turam Purty was thrashed mercilessly and was forced to consume poison following which he died.
In the complaint, she alleged that a jumbo was killed in the STR for tusks and the carcass was burned to erase the evidence as her husband Turam Prusty was an eyewitness to the incidents, three forest staff identified as Jenabil ranger in-charge Shiv Shankar Samal, forester Chandrabhanu Behera and forest guard Binod Kumar Das beat him mercilessly and forced him to drink poison following which he turned critical on December 11. He was then taken to Karanjia hospital in critical condition and later to SCB Medical College and Hospital.
His wife stated that before passing away, her husband had told her about the accused forest officials who beat him and forcibly made him consume poison to conceal the elephant death case to which he was an eyewitness.
In the complaint, she also alleged that while they were on the way to their native village, the forest officials tried to throw away his body near Thakurmunda forest. When she tried to stop them, the accused persons misbehaved with her.