Two arrested for electric trap death of three elephants in Odisha
SAMBALPUR: Acting swiftly, forest officials on Tuesday arrested two persons for their involvement in the electrocution death of three elephants in Rairakhol.
The accused, Sanjit Kumar Behera (50) and Gopi Basantra (18) of Ghosramal in Rairakhol, will be produced in court on Wednesday. The three elephants, two females and a calf, were electrocuted to death after coming in contact with an electric trap laid by poachers to hunt wild boars near Buramal in the Naktideul range under Rairakhol forest division on the wee hours of Monday.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Rairakhol Arabinda Mohanty said, “During the investigation, we had detained four persons. After interrogation, the two accused were arrested. The duo has confessed to have laid the electric trap for poaching wild boars. Further investigation is underway to ascertain involvement of others in the crime.”
The DFO said two forest guards have also been suspended in connection with the incident. Besides, the Forest department has issued show cause notice to the local power distribution company and sought a report.
On the day, Wildlife PCCF Susanta Nanda visited the spot of incident to take stock of the ongoing investigation. Autopsy on the dead elephants was conducted and the carcasses disposed of.
While the adult elephants were aged between 35 and 40 years, the male calf was around three to four years old. The jumbos were part of a herd of 11 elephants that had been roaming around Naktideul forest range since the last few days.
The carcasses of the dead elephants were first spotted by villagers near Buramal forest at around 5:30 am on Monday. Negligence of forest staff, as well as the electricity department, is being attributed to be the cause of the incident.