22 June 2019




GUWAHATI: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has emphatically said that it will not dispatch the four elephants to Ahmedabad from Assam’s Tinsukia for the Jagannath Rath Yatra on July 4 till it receives a “clarification” on an order of the Supreme Court from the forest department of Assam and the matter is resolved by the Gauhati High Court.

“We have sought a clarification from the forest department of Assam on an order of the Supreme Court. Till that clarification is received, we will not dispatch the elephants by the railway,” Masood Alom, who is the Additional Divisional Railway Manager of Tinsukia Division, told The New Indian Express on Saturday.

“Our zonal headquarters (Maligaon) has written the letter to the forest department seeking the clarification. Also, there is a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Gauhati High Court. Till the case is resolved, we will not dispatch the elephants,” he further said. 

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