Tripura forest department officer suspended over lions named ‘Akbar’, ‘Sita’

The Tripura government suspended a senior forest officer, IFS Pravin Lal Agrawal, over the naming of a lion as ‘Akbar’ and a lioness as ‘Sita ‘ by zoo authorities in Tripura. Agrawal is the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW). 

The two lions were recently brought to the Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri from Tripura’s Sepahijala Zoo.

Days later, the wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad approached the Calcutta High Court opposing the West Bengal forest department’s move to keep the lion named ‘Akbar’ with the lioness named ‘Sita’ in the same enclosure.

The High Court later asked the Bengal government to rename the big cats. The state government had informed the court that the naming of the two lions was done by the Tripura Zoo authorities in 2016 and 2018. 

The Tripura government’s order suspending Pravin Lal Agrawal directed him to stay in Agartala during his suspension. Agrawal has been asked not to leave his headquarters in Agartala without obtaining prior permission from the competent authority.