Sangli forest department to seize elephant used for illegal procession

The Pune forest department on Monday directed its Sangli counterpart to carry out seizure action against an elephant in private ownership after the animal was illegally used in a procession in Mulshi tehsil.

The department had also filed a preliminary offense report against the event organisers on February 4.

Pratap Jagtap, range forest officer, Pune forest department, said, “Our team is in Sangli to probe the case.”

The forest department on February 3 initiated a probe against Rahul Balkawade, who had organised the event a day before to felicitate Shankar Mandekar, the newly elected Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Bhor constituency.

The case was registered against the organiser under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.