Railway, forest officials lock horns

The controversy over the death of the Royal Bengal Tiger near the Dolong bridge on Monday is thickening with the Railways today rejecting the insinuation that the tiger had been hit by a speeding train.
Welcoming a joint probe into the incident, which is the first-of-its-kind in these parts, the divisional railway manager, Northeast Frontier Railway Mr Arjun Rakshit opposed the idea that the tiger had been knocked down by a train.
Deep injury marks had been found on the tiger’s face suggesting a train had hit the predator. The forest department has lodged a complaint with the Ghoksadanga police stating an unidentified train had rammed the tiger. The tiger’s viscera samples would be sent to the Wild Life Institute of India in Dehra Doon for tests.
According to forest department officials, post-mortem reports specify that the tiger had suffered blood clots, internal haemorrhages and four broken ribs.
The allegations made by the forest department and its minister Mr Ananta Roy against the Railways prompted the DRM, Alipurduar, Mr Arjun Rakshit to explain the matter from their viewpoint.
“No driver or any other Railway employee reported any such incident. The Railways have no compulsion to suppress such a matter. No train violated the speed control restriction at that specific spot,” he said.
There were four speed restriction zones between Siliguri Junction and Alipurduar Junction to prevent wild life deaths. “Speed restriction had not been violated in the tiger death case as the area was not within a restricted zone,” he further explained.
According to the DRM, the tiger’s head would have shattered and its body would have received multiple injuries had it been hit by a locomotive. “The forest officials are blaming the Railways to pass the responsibility,” he counteralleged.
The DRM also said by way of explanation that bright light and the sound of a speeding train would scare away a tiger, not attract it on to the tracks.
The incident has led to several questions but. According to wildlife experts, except maneaters, carnivorous animals like tigers never come out of their home range.
It is therefore puzzling what made the tiger venture out of the forest.

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