M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Nov 9: The male adult elephant was killed by electric shock near a paddy field at Labher under the Garu West range of the Palamu tiger reserve. This has been confirmed by the noted veterinary surgeon of Latehar Dr Ravi Nandan who said last night, “The luckless elephant had a 6-inch burn on its trunk. It was a telltale sign of burning by the electric shock.”
He further said, “Electric shock was the prime cause of this elephant’s death, who is guessed to be around 25-year-old as PTR officials estimated its age also to be around 30 or so.”
About the recovery of a cartridge from the body of the deceased elephant, the doctor said, “We use a metal detector in case of an elephant lying dead just to find out injury to it by the firearms. When we used it on this elephant, it beeped and the cartridge was found and retrieved. This is not remotely the cause of the death of this elephant. It is told to be fired with some muzzleloader in the past.”
Dr Ravi Nandan opined this elephant could be an object of mistrust of the farmers since long there, just could be due to its invasion of their standing crops as this firearms bid on it in the past and now this electric shock leading to its instant death, showed the locals must be having strong grudge and grouse against the elephant for the damages or losses of their standing crops or stocked food grains.
“As its ‘tusks were just about to grow’, poaching angle of this elephant is out of the question,” added Dr Ravi Nandan.
Dr Ravi Nandan led the postmortem team which had Dr Pramod Kumar (block animal husbandry officer Barwadeeh) and Dr Mira Singh (touring veterinary officer Betla).
This correspondent gave phone calls to Dr Mira Singh last evening but she neither took the call nor called back. Latehar district animal husbandry officer Dr Deonath Chourasia when apprised of this incommunicado of the Betla-based touring veterinary officer said “I believe phone call in such a situation should be responded to. I give you the phone number of our surgeon Dr Ravi Nandan. He will be telling you about the postmortem.”
Mukesh Kumar, the deputy director of the South division of the PTR said, “We feel angry and saddened when a few people show or behave so criminally with wildlife. Such an act of crime is unacceptable. We will ensure the offender or offenders face the heat of law intensely.”
“Our chief conservator of forest and field director PTR Kumar Ashutosh has directed a thorough probe into this episode,” he added.
Mukesh Kumar said this deadly episode is a premeditated, preplanned and meticulously executed crime by the farmer and his clan for which there is no room for anything less than severe lawful action and fast conviction.
The highly-insulated electricity wire was shorn-off its insulation to make it bare for its deadly shock which proved beyond any doubt that the farmer wanted to eliminate this elephant by all means.
Sources said the PTR is writing to the electricity department to initiate a probe at its level into this de-insulation of the wire with which the farmer Sahadur Singh and his people laid the death trap for this elephant to die a painful death.
