Chandikhol: The carcasses of two female elephants were recovered from the premises of an ashram situated at the foothills of Karanji hill in Cuttack district Monday.
Forest officials seized the carcasses and performed their post-mortem. According to forest officials, elephants from Dhenkanal often cross the hill and reach Bari forest range in Cuttack forest division.
The two elephants also might have come from Dhenkanal region, the officials assumed. One of the elephant was 20-year-old while the other one was 10-year-old, the officials said.
The elephants had entered into the ashram in search of water. They were electrocuted after coming in contact with an electric wire connected to a bulb outside the ashram, Bari forest ranger Dilip Kumar Singh said. On learning the incident, regional chief conservator of forests Sudarsan Panda and divisional forest officer Sudarsan Patra along with the ranger took stock of the situation.
Elephants stray into villages in search of food and water and fall prey to such circumstances, locals said. They flayed forest officials on their alleged failure to ensure that water is available to elephants in forests.
Environmentalists too condemned the negligence of forest officials and demanded a high-level probe into the incident. They sought action against officials responsible for the incident and steps to prevent such incidents. PNN
