The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has formed a two-member committee in connection with the death of a leopard near Khajuria village under the Bhatli police limits in Bargarh district.
The panel has Nagpur NTCA AIG and Jabalpur WCCB as its members. It is slated to visit Odisha and submit a report to the NTCA within 10 days. The leopard was allegedly electrocuted by poachers. The incident came to the fore on October 28 when forest officials of the Hirakud Wildlife Division came across the decomposed carcass in a trench. The Bargarh DFO had suspended two officials of the Forest Department, Kamgaon Forester Parshuram Behera and Hajuripada Forest Guard Prabhashini Mahananda, in connection with the death of the animal. The action was taken against the two for dereliction of duty, official sources said.