RANCHI: A six-year-old wild elephant named ‘Gadru’, which was seriously injured in a suspected IED blast planted by Maoists in the Saranda Forest of Chaibasa, has sadly succumbed to its injuries despite intensive treatment efforts. The elephant had been spotted wandering in the forest in an injured condition ten days ago.
Gadru was believed to have sustained injuries on June 24, but it was only located on June 27 with the help of a drone camera.
Despite exhaustive efforts by the Forest Department and veterinary experts, the elephant could not be saved.
“After several hours of treatment, the elephant finally collapsed late on Saturday evening due to excessive blood loss and infection. It had sustained a major injury to its hind limb, which became severely infected and spread throughout its body,” said Saranda Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Aviroop Sinha. He added that further details would be available following the post-mortem, scheduled for Sunday.
A joint medical team comprising members of the Forest Department and Vantara, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre from Gujarat, had tranquilised the elephant late on Saturday evening. The animal was then transported to Jhariakela from the Digha area of Saranda, but it succumbed overnight due to massive internal bleeding and injuries.
Specialised teams were called in from various forest divisions in Jharkhand and Odisha to assist in locating and treating the elephant. The rescue operation was personally monitored by Jamshedpur Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF) Smita Pankaj and Saranda DFO Aviroop Sinha, with Dr Tenzing from Vantara also on-site.
According to local sources, the incident likely occurred between 24 and 26 June. The elephant was last seen near Digha on June 27and was finally traced by drone on July 3.
Forest officials confirmed the animal was severely injured, although the exact cause is still under investigation. However, wildlife experts have not ruled out an IED explosion as the cause, given the nature of the injury to the hind limb.
“With Maoists now deploying capsule IEDs with limited impact, it's possible the elephant was hurt by one of these devices,” said a wildlife expert on condition of anonymity.
Notably, Maoist activity is now largely confined to the Saranda jungles of Jharkhand, having been driven out of most other parts of the state. Estimates suggest 85–90 Maoist insurgents are hiding in the region, which is reportedly littered with thousands of IEDs, posing a grave challenge for security personnel.
Since the launch of a joint security operation in the Kolhan region in November 2022, following intelligence reports about the presence of senior Maoist leaders including Misir Besra and Patiram Majhi alias Anal Da, the area has witnessed intense conflict. The IED blasts triggered by Maoists have claimed the lives of six security personnel and around 22 civilians, leaving over 30 others critically injured.