DEOGARH: The carcass of a sub-adult male tusker was found near Kaunsitaila under Tinkbir beat of Rengalbeda section in Reamal range of Deogarh forest division in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The elephant is suspected to have died due to electrocution late on Tuesday night. Villagers first spotted the carcass and immediately informed the local forest officials. Reamal range officer Niranjan Dharua, forester Pradeep Satapathy and other staff reached the spot and initiated an investigation. Later, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Deogarh Rashmi G visited the site.
A team from the elephant tracking squad and field officials carried out verification of the spot. In the evening, a postmortem examination was conducted to ascertain the exact cause of death. On the day, a joint task force (JTF) arrived from Bhubaneswar to investigate the incident.
The tusker was reportedly roaming in the area for the past few days. DFO Rashmi said, “Preliminary findings suggest that the tusker may have died due to electrocution. However, the exact cause will be confirmed after the postmortem report comes. The elephant was moving from one forest patch to another, crossing agricultural fields and a road when the mishap occurred.”
Forest officials assured that necessary action will be taken once the postmortem findings are available.
Earlier on September 12, another tusker had died of electrocution under similar circumstances at Mahasindhu village in Reamal forest range.