Barua hits back at ‘false’ charges

Assam's internationally famed ‘‘hastir kanya’’ Parbati Barua today lashed out at her critics for falsely implicating her...

Assam’s internationally famed ‘‘hastir kanya’’ Parbati Barua today lashed out at her critics for falsely implicating her in the death of a wild tusker in Chhattisgarh and said some vested interests were working overtime to defame her over the issue.

‘‘The elephant died due to the negligence of the Chhattisgarh Forest officials and I’ve been falsely blamed to cover a major goof-up,’’ Barua, who addressed a press conference here, said today. She said Vivek Menon of WWF and wildlife cinematographer Mike Pande were also part of the group that had misled the Chhattisgarh government as well as Maneka Gandhi over the issue.

‘‘Each and every allegation against me is false and reflects either the ignorance or crooked mindset of the persons involved in the vilification campaign,’’ Barua said.

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She said the state Forest Department had already captured the elephant in contrary to allegations that she had captured it herself, and it was done by chemical immobilisation on February 6 after it was declared rogue by the chief wildlife warden on January 29.

‘‘The chemical immobilisation was not done professionally. It was darted six times and one dart hit the trunk. The wound did not heal and most probably led to the elephant’s death,’’ she said.