Bhanjanagar: Two days after a tusker was found dead at Baniapalli forest under Mujagarh forest range of North Ghumusar forest division near here in Ganjam district, Forest department officials Monday revealed that the wild elephant was shot dead by a farmer.
According to the investigation by the Forest department, the farmer identified as Umakant Pradhan, 50, allegedly shot the animal while trying to protect his crops.
He was arrested by the Forest department officials, leading to the breakthrough in the case.
Addressing a presser Monday evening, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Himansu Sekhar Mohanty said officials seized two functional guns, one broken gun, bullets, explosives, and other materials from Pradhan’s possession.
The accused has been produced in court, and the Forest Department has applied for a three-day remand for further investigation. The case has been registered under Wildlife Offence Report (WOR) no432/25.
Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACFs) Bibek Das, Bimal Pradhan, Ranger Bimbadhar Sahu, foresters Babul Sethi, Tuna Mallik, Anup Bishoi, Rajendra Dalei, forest guards Biswajit Hota, Pradyumna Bishoi, and Susant Mishra, among others, attended the presser.
The investigations revealed that a herd of 24 elephants had entered the Baniapalli forest area on Thursday night.
Two elephants from the herd moved toward nearby farmlands in search of food. On learning this, Pradhan went to his field carrying a gun and crude bombs.
When the animals entered his paddy field, Pradhan hurled two bombs at the herd to drive them away.
Instead of retreating, the elephants turned aggressive and began rampaging. In panic, Pradhan opened fire at the herd, and a bullet struck one of the tuskers on its left front leg.
Panicked, the injured elephant ran about 500 metres into the forest before collapsing and dying. After the incident, Pradhan returned home and hid his firearm in the field near his house.
Forest officials received information about the elephant’s death Saturday morning. A Joint Task Force (JTF) from Bhubaneswar reached the spot and began a probe.
A four-member team of wildlife experts accompanying them conducted the postmortem of the carcass. The autopsy confirmed that the animal had died from gunshot wounds.
Following the investigation, the Forest Department formed multiple special teams and successfully arrested the accused.
