Guwahati, March 29: The Assam government today said it would move the defence ministry if the one-man inquiry into the recent killing of a hog deer in Kokrajhar district establishes the alleged involvement of the army.
State forest minister Pradyut Bordoloi informed the Assembly that conservator of forests (western range) has been asked to conduct a probe into the incident and the army authorities have been requested to co-operate.
The minister made the statement when Bodoland Demand Legislature Party member Hemendra Nath Brahma drew the attention of the minister of state for home, Rockybul Hussain, claiming that no action has been taken against “guilty army personnel” though an FIR was lodged at the local police station.
The killing of the hog deer at Ramphalbil in Kokrajhar district on March 11 triggered a controversy, with the local residents filing an FIR at the Serfanguri police station against the army. The residents alleged that troops of the 16 Sikh Light Infantry, based at Patagaon, shot the deer while it was grazing near National Highway 31 (C).
The army, however, refuted the charges and clarified that the deer was shot dead when the army column fired at NDFB militants while they were fleeing the Ramphalbil area.
A defence communiqu? said the allegations were “baseless with a malafide intention of tarnishing the image of the army”. Immediately after the incident, the army had informed the village chiefs and student organisations about the “accident” and a “befitting compensation” was given to the village committee, the army said.
The Assam Wildlife Advisory Board had also decided to write to deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and defence minister George Fernandes to take stern action against those responsible for the “heinous crime.”
Later, replying to a cut motion on budgetary grants for the forest department, the minister stressed the need to adopt a pragmatic forest policy to deal with the problem of illegal felling of trees, which is causing rapid depletion of forest cover in the state. He told the House that between 1996 and 1999, the state recorded a loss of 40,000 hectares of forest cover, of which Sonitpur district alone accounted for more than 20,000 hectares.
Earlier, the House witnessed noisy scenes with Opposition AGP members staging a walkout over the absence of Cabinet ministers during the debate on a cut motion on budgetary grants for the police department.
The AGP members returned to the House after Speaker Prithibi Majhi issued a ruling asking all Cabinet ministers to be present when the session was in progress.