KOLKATA: Two calves and an elephant were found dead on Sunday morning in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district. According to preliminary inquiry made by the state forest department, the three wild animals might have been electrocuted.
The carcasses of two calves and their mother were found lying dead on a field at Hattara in the Pirakata range under Salboni police station. Villagers spotted the three bodies first and then informed the incident to the forest department’s local office.
Some villagers said that a live electric wire connected with a water pump was found lying on the field for irrigation works. A herd of elephants while passing by the area got electrocuted and died on the spot, they said.
The forest department officials visited the spot and initiated an investigation. One of them said that the reason behind the deaths of the three animals would be cleared after post-mortem of the carcasses.
Incidents of electrocutions of wild animals in forest belts of south Bengal districts have also been reported earlier. It’s also alleged that farmers are sometimes found fencing their agricultural land to save crops from herd of elephants.