In the petition, Eunus Ali Akond also prayed to the HC for its directives upon the government to form a judicial inquiry committee led by a former HC judge to probe the incident of the elephant’s death.
He said, in the petition, that the government is responsible for protecting and preserving the environment and wildlife under Article 18 (A) of the constitution.
The government has failed to discharge its constitutional duties as it could not rescue the elephant, the petition said.
After filing the writ petition, Akond told The Daily Star that the HC may hold a hearing on the petition on Sunday.
Yesterday, Akond served a legal notice to the government, requesting it to form a judicial inquiry committee within 24 hours for investigating the cause of death of Bangabahadur, reports our correspondent.
The lawyer in the notice said Bangabahadur might have died due to tranquiliser overdose on August 16 at Koyra village under Sharishabari upazila of Jamalpur.
On Tuesday evening, the Forest Department, as per the directives of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, formed a five-member probe body to investigate the cause of death of Bangabahadur.
Meanwhile, following an autopsy, Bangabahadur was buried at around 7:30pm the same day at the village where he was captured and died — Koyra under Sharishabari upazila of Jamalpur.
The wild elephant was named Bangabahadur for its perilous journey across nearly 1,000 kilometres of submerged areas after it entered Bangladesh from India.
Bangabahadur got separated from his herd in Assam of India and on June 27 he entered Bangladesh through Chilmari of Kurigram, floating with currents of the Brahmaputra River.
A team of 17 rescuers from Bangladesh Forest Department were engaged to capture the wild creature from floodwaters and bring it to safety. On August 11, they tranquilised and captured Bangabahadur for the first time.
At around 11:30am on Monday, Bangabahadur suddenly collapsed and fell down on the waterlogged and muddy field where he remained tied down, unconscious, till he was declared dead on Tuesday, at 6:30am.
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