15-07-2025
MM Hills tiger deaths: DCF Chakrapani suspended over unpaid dues to anti-poaching watchers
The reason for suspending Chakrapani this time was his 'failure in the basic duty of ensuring timely payment of wages' to contractual employees hired as anti-poaching watchers to patrol the sanctuary. The report investigated how the tiger watchers and rangers, who were not directly employed by the forest department, had not received their salaries for March, April, and May this year. This was despite the state authority transferring the funds in April.
This is the second time IFS officer Chakrapani has been suspended, the first being in 2023 when he was suspended as DCF of the Bengaluru Urban division over illegal tree felling.
New Delhi: Three weeks after a tigress and her four cubs died of poisoning at the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka, the state government has ordered the suspension of Y Chakrapani, deputy conservator of forests (DCF), MM Hills Wildlife Division.
The killing of the five tigers was the biggest single-day mortality recorded in India since the beginning of Project Tiger.
A preliminary report by a high-level committee headed by the additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) of Karnataka and comprising top forest officials was released Monday, which ascertained the cause of death as poisoning. The tigers were found near a cow carcass, which officials said could have been poisoned to kill the big cats. The exact details of the toxic compound consumed will be shared after results from the Forensic Science Laboratory arrive.
The preliminary report said the committee's investigations had also found that the anti-poaching watchers had staged a protest on 23 June, three days before the tiger bodies were discovered in the Hoogyam range of the wildlife sanctuary.
'They (staffers) all have been taking loans from local sources at high interest rates for the survival of their families. But they also said they have been doing their duty sincerely and patrolling the areas assigned to them as per the instruction of their seniors,' read the preliminary report.
History of the case
On 26 June, five tigers were found dead inside the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in the Hoogyam range. The tigers were found less than 1 km away from an anti-poaching camp inside the sanctuary, raising alarms in the Karnataka government regarding negligence by forest officials and lack of monitoring by anti-poaching watchers.
Within two days, the forest department arrested three people suspected of poisoning the tigers. The accused were from a nearby village and are suspected to have poisoned the tigers in an act of revenge after one of their cattle was killed by a big cat. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said a high-level inquiry committee will be formed to investigate the incident.
"I am deeply pained by the tragic death of five tigers — a mother and her cubs — in M.M. Hills Sanctuary, Chamarajanagar. Karnataka takes immense pride in its wildlife heritage, and such a loss is heartbreaking.
A high-level committee has been formed to investigate the incident.…
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) June 28, 2025
Soon after the tigers were found, Karnataka Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre also suspended the range forest officer (RFO) and assistant conservator of forests (ACF) for dereliction of duty.
Now, Y Chakrapani is the third official to be suspended in the case.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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