A Moulvibazar court ordered the local forest department and police to take immediate measures to stop the cruel process of training elephant calves.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Ali gave the order on Monday following reports on a national newspaper and going through elephant training videos on Youtube.
In its order, the court also asked officials of the forest department and police to explain their inaction to stop animal cruelty.
Divisional Forest Officer Rezaul Karim Chowdhury and OC Sanjay Chakraborti of Moulvibazar’s Juri police have been told to respond within March 15 to explain why legal actions would not be taken against them under the wildlife and animal welfare laws.
OC Sanjay, however, said he was yet to receive the court’s order.
Elephant calves are domesticated following a long process known as “Hadani”, which starts when an elephant is four-year-old.
During the training, the calves are kept tied with ropes and they are usually kept apart from their mothers.
The animals are not given food regularly during the period, so they start responding to the orders.