Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 violators could be fined up to Rs 1 lakh
Fourteen SUVs believed to be on an off-roading experience trip from five states 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 said.
The vehicles came from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, the officers said.
The forest department has suspended two rangers for the lapse.
On August 15, at least 12 Mahindra Thar and two Scorpio SUVs managed to sneak into the ecologically fragile tiger reserve for a private safari led by a tour organiser called Adventure Tours.
A Mahindra spokesperson said they will investigate the matter to find out any violation on the part of the event organisers.
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.
"It is a matter of illegal entry. We have seized the vehicles. We are further investigating the matter," divisional forest officer Ramamnand Bhakkar told NDTV.
During monsoon, the wildlife park is shut for all safaris, which makes it all the more surprising that private vehicles were found inside the park, sources said.
A video of the vehicles inside the park also shows the visitors walking around in Zone 8. It appeared one of the vehicles got stuck. 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.
Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 violators could be fined up to Rs 1 lakh.
The Mahindra spokesperson said the event was organised by a third party that uses Mahindra vehicles.
"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," the spokesperson said.
"As a responsible OEM (original equipment manufacturer), 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 wilfully support the administration who is investigating this incident," the spokesperson said.