GUWAHATI: The body of an elephant was found under mysterious circumstances in Rani near Guwahati today, August 13. The Assam Forest Department officials suspect that it must be the handiwork of poachers as empty bullet cartridges have been found near the dead elephant. Poachers have been suspected to have killed the wild elephant in Beloguri Lachi Hill. The elephant was found dead in the Forest Department Area and the trunk and other body parts were missing.
Rohini Ballav Saikia, IFS, DFO, Kamrup East Division said, “Since empty cartridges have been found at the spot near the elephant, our primary assumption is that the elephant was killed with a gunshot. The trunk, parts of its neck, tail and posterior leg have been taken out most probably for consumption since those parts bear the tender flesh of the animal. Once the post mortem is complete and we have an entry wound spotted, we will be sure about the cause of death.”
“Looking at the condition of the elephant right now, most of the flesh has dried under the sun which indicates that the elephant was killed not less than seven days ago,” added the DFO.
Extensive investigation would be carried out on the matter by the Assam Police as well as the Meghalaya Police since the incident has occurred near the border.
“We have spoken with the Superintendent of Police (Kamrup) and the Commissioner of Police and we are liaising to tread around the border so that there isn't any confusion and we've also informed the Deputy Commissioner and the Magistrate along with the Officer in Charge of the local police station for clearance to carry out the investigation,” said the DFO.
“We've been receiving reports of firing and every time we do, we carry out a search operation and we also inform the police since we require the information gathered by the police intelligence. We will be cooperating with the Meghalaya Police to patrol and search this area distinctly,” he added further.
The forest officials have also brought in a sniffer dog to track down the suspects and get as much evidence as possible to help with the case.
