Boinda: Forest officials Thursday arrested two poachers for their involvement in the electrocution of a tusker at Hemamura under Handapa forest range in Angul district.
The tusker was electrocuted after coming in contact with livewires drawn at a farm to poach wild boars on the outskirts of the village.
The accused were identified as Arabinda Biswal and Runa Biswal of Hemamura, said Handapa forest ranger Chaitanya Behera.
The forest officials got wind of the duo’s involvement in the elephant’s death while conducting a probe. A case was registered and the accused were produced in Athamallik court.
The ranger said the poachers had drawn livewires from an 11-kv transmission line to hunt wild boars. The tusker, that strayed into the farmland to eat ripen crops, got ensnared in the wires and was electrocuted late Tuesday night.
The poachers were taken aback when they visited the farmland in the morning and found the dead tusker. They covered the carcass with crops cut from nearby farms and absconded.
Some women of the village noticed the pachyderm lying dead in the paddy field and informed the villagers. DFO Samyak Samantra, ranger Behera and other officials launched an investigation.
PNN
