Hatadihi: Forest officials Wednesday recovered the carcass of a tusker from the backyard of a villager’s house near the Ashram School at Neudani under Soso police limits and Anandapur sub-division in Keonjhar district.
On being informed, Forest officials and Soso police rushed to the spot and launched an investigation. Forest officials said that the deceased animal was aged around 25-26 but failed to ascertain the actual reason behind its death. A post-mortem was conducted on the carcass before its burial at the spot, forest ranger Marshall Kisku said. The tusks were trimmed and taken in possession by the Forest officials.
Locals suspected that the animal might have been deliberately killed by electrocution due to presence of a brick kiln where the carcass was found. They demanded a proper inquiry into the animal’s death and stringent action against the persons responsible. They said that the jumbo often used to stray into the area from Hadagarh elephant sanctuary which is located at a distance of 5 km from the village. The animal used to stray into villages in search of food and would consume mangoes, pineapples, jackfruits and bananas grown in the area. It would stay in the orchards and backyards of villagers at night and leave the area during daybreak, they said. When contacted, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Abhaya Dalei said that the actual reason behind the animal’s death can be ascertained only after the post-mortem report is available to them.