• Source:JND
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Rajasthan: Fourteen SUVs from different states believed to be on an off-roading experience trip were caught in Zone 8 - an area not open to public access via vehicles - of Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur, forest department officers informed. The vehicles came from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, the officers added. Meanwhile, two rangers were suspended for the lapse by the the forest department.

At least 12 Mahindra Thar and two Scorpio SUVs managed to sneak into the ecologically fragile tiger reserve on August 15, for a private safari led by a tour organiser called Adventure Tours.

When visuals of the SUVs inside the zone where personal vehicles were not allowed went viral on social media, the forest department swung into action. It was suspected some forest rangers had illegally allowed the private vehicles into the park.

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"It is a matter of illegal entry. We have seized the vehicles. We are further investigating the matter," said divisional forest officer Ramamnand Bhakkar, as quoted by NDTV.

A video of the vehicles inside the restricted area also shows the visitors walking around in Zone 8. It seemed that one of the vehicles got stuck and this video was taken by a local. It exposed the illegal entry of private SUVs inside the tiger reserve.

Off-roader and rally driver Rattan Dhillon also posted visuals of the incident on X.

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Notably, under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 violators could be fined up to Rs 1 lakh.

Automobile company Mahindra responded to the to the incident, saying, “We understand that in connection with an adventure event there was an incident of some vehicles entering Tiger Zone B of Ranthambore. We would like to clarify that the said event was organised by a third party who uses Mahindra vehicles for the activity. As a responsible OEM, we will investigate the matter to find out any violation on the part of the organisers of the event. We strongly condemn any act of violation and will fully support the administration who is investigating this incident.”