2 IFS officials get off scot-free?,Vigilance panel recommends stoppage of two increments

By V L Srinivasan Published on July 17, 2006 Hyderabad: DO you know the punishment awarded to the two senior officials who failed to prevent the gruesome killing of 13-month-old tigress Sakhi by poachers in the Nehru Zoological Park six years ago. Stoppage of two increments with cumulative effect is what has been prescribed by the Andhra Pradesh Vigilance Commission (APVC) which probed the case. While B Trinadha Rao, a senior IFS officer, was the curator of the Nehru Zoo Park, T Ramakrishna, another senior IFS officer (now retired), was the Chief Wildlife Warden when Sakhi was brutally killed on the night of October 4, 2000. Following public uproar, the State Government suspended Trinadha Rao and ordered a CID probe into the killing. Later, the matter was referred to the Vigilance Commission for further inquiry, which submitted its report to the State Government recently. At present, Trinadha Rao is the Public Relations Officer at the Forest Department headquarters. In a written statement given to APVC, Ramakrishna reportedly explained the circumstances and the action he had taken in the case. He regretted the lapse and begged for pardon. Subsequently, the charges against Ramakrishna were dropped based on the recommendations of the head of the Forest Department. APVC was of the opinion that Trinadha Rao deserved a severe punishment for his laxity. ‘‘There was a total failure on the part of Trinadha Rao who claimed to have got vast experience in administration of zoos, in discharging his primary duty,’’ the commission said and recommended stoppage of two increments of the officials with cumulative effect. In his defence, Trinadha Rao was understood to have insisted that since Ramakrishna was spared, the charges against him should also be dropped. The Vigilance Commission, however, dismissed his plea saying that it had no merit at all as Trinadha Rao was in-charge of the zoo and that he was given quarters on the zoo premises along with adequate supporting staff equipped with wireless sets to ensure the safety of animals. Even after the matter was reported to him on that fateful day, he wasted one day without taking any action. Trinadha Rao tried to defend himself for his lapse saying that it was the gravest of the grave acts which never happened nor anticipated in a zoo and all the staff, right from the animal keeper to the curator took some time to recover from the big shock.