ROURKELA: Tension erupted in Sundargarh’s Bondamunda panchayat on Wednesday after forest authorities detained two villagers suspecting them of killing a tusker.
The incident took place at Tungritoli hamlet in Dumerta village under Panposh range of Rourkela forest division. Sources said the elephant was found lying dead alongside a farm plot at Tungritoli in the morning. The carcass was reportedly entangled in solar fencing wires, indicating that the pachyderm was electrocuted to death.
On being informed, forest personnel reached the spot and detained two villagers suspecting their involvement in the tusker’s death. However, angry villagers detained the team including Rourkela divisional forest officer (DFO) Ravikant Meena. They demanded immediate release of the suspects and protection of their lives, agriculture crops and properties from elephant raids. Normalcy was restored later in the evening with the intervention of police.
The DFO said the elephant was aged between 12 and 15 years. The lone tusker was moving in the locality and forest authorities were continuously tracking its movement.
He said prima facie, it appeared that the elephant was electrocuted to death. “When forest staff detained two suspects for questioning, other villagers detained the team demanding release of the suspects. Before releasing the suspects, written undertakings were obtained from them,” said Meena. The carcass was buried at a nearby government land after postmortem. “We are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of the elephant’s death. Appropriate action would be taken after the report is received,” he added.