MP: Field director suspended after ten elephants die in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], November 3 : Field Director of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Madhya Pradesh has been suspended following death of ten elephants, officials said.
An instruction in this regard was issued by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav during a meeting with forest department officials on Sunday.
The Chief Minister also denied any use of pesticides on crops, which had been previously suspected.
"According to the preliminary information, we have not received any evidence regarding the use of pesticides on the crops. The postmortem report will be sent to us in 2-3 days. The Bandhavgarh Field Director has been suspended," said CM Mohan Yadav.
Additionally, the ex-gratia compensation for the family of a man who lost his life in a wild elephant attack on Saturday near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve has been increased.
"Ex-gratia for the kin of those killed by elephants has been raised from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 25 lakh," CM said.
Earlier, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Dileep Ahirwar and two senior forest officers visited the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve on Saturday to investigate the deaths of the elephants.
Minister Ahirwar, Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) Ashok Barnwal, and the state's Head of Forest Force (HOFF) Aseem Shrivastava gathered information from the site and will submit their report to CM Yadav.
The Union Environment Ministry also constituted a team on Saturday to investigate the recent deaths of the ten elephants.