Pallahara: A tusker was found dead under mysterious circumstances with its tusks missing at Badakhunturi forest under Khamar forest range in Pallahara in Angul district Friday. It is imperative to mention here that the electrocution incident of seven jumbos is not even a few weeks old and the mysterious death of another elephant comes barging in the room.
The matter came to the fore after locals spotted the pachyderm’s carcass early Friday morning and apprised the forest department. On being informed, forest officials reached the spot and started a probe to ascertain the circumstances under which the jumbo died.
Though the exact reason behind the tusker’s death is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that the elephant was killed by poachers for its tusks, said an official.
After the kill both the tusks had taken by the suspected poachers. Going through circumstantial evidence, the tusker was also electrocuted after coming in contact with a live wire.
Villagers claimed some poachers had laid electric wires to poach the tusker. This spread resentment among the villagers who blamed the forest officials of negligence and not being able to keep a track on the movement of the jumbos.
“It is clear that the pachyderm was electrocuted after coming in contact with live wires laid by the poachers. The miscreants have also taken away the tusks. Such persons should be arrested soon and given punishment as per law,” an angry local said.
A case was registered and a manhunt was launched to nab the poachers. Meanwhile, the forest officials are conducting the post-mortem of the carcass till the filing of this report.
PNN
