A committee formed to investigate the January 24 death of an 11-year-old male rhino in a freshly dug roadside ditch along the Bharatpur-Gondrang road section in Chitwan, has recommended departmental action against the national park officials.

In its report, the committee said, “Departmental action should be taken against the officials of the park office concerned for not fulfilling their official responsibilities as prescribed by the prevailing Civil Service Act 1993 and other prevailing laws.”

The report also recommended departmental action against the officials of the Bharatpur Road Division for working carelessly, not arranging safety around the ditch, let alone not coordinating with the concerned authorities.

Minister for Forest and Environment Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav had formed a committee under Dr Rajendra KC, deputy director general of the Department of Forest and Land Conservation to investigate the incident.

The committee consists of the ministry's joint secretary for law Ramji Danai; Planning chief of Department of National Park Dil Bahadur Purja Pun; chief of Forest Division Office, Chitwan Padam Nepal; and chief conservation officer of the Chitwan National Park Haribhadra Acharya.

In the report submitted by the committee two days ago, it has been said that the Khadgadal battalion of the Nepal Army deployed for the security of the park should be cautioned so that such incidents do not occur again.

A few days after the incident, the Chitwan National Park had issued an arrest warrant against the representative of a construction company involved in digging a ditch along the Bharatpur-Gondrang road section after the rhino was found dead in the ditch Sunday.