Carcass of 12-yr-old elephant found along Assam-Meghalaya border
Carcass of 12-yr-old elephant found along Assam-Meghalaya border
Kulendu Kalita, East Mojo
August 14, 2022
See link
https://www.eastmojo.com/assam/2022/08/14/carcass-of-12-yr-old-elephant-found-along-assam-meghalaya-border/
for photos.
Poachers from Meghalaya killed a 12-year-old female elephant and took away
its flesh along with the trunk at Belguri in Rani Reserve Forest along the
Assam-Meghalaya border.
The carcass was found on Saturday along with an empty cartridge of 303
Rifle. It is believed that the poachers killed the elephant using that
rifle.
“The carcass of a 12-year-old female elephant was found at Belguri along
the Assam-Meghalaya border. It was believed to be killed for meat and the
incident took place around 15 days ago,” said Rohini Ballav Saikia,
divisional forest officer (DF), East Kamrup Division.
An official of the Rani Police Outpost said, “The elephant was suspected to
have been killed for its meat and especially the trunk, which many people
consider to be a delicacy.”
While some people had noticed the bullet-riddled elephant at the Loshi
Hills on Friday evening and informed the beat officer of the Nalapara Beat
office, the forest team did not immediately rush to the remote area due to
darkness.
A team of forest officials, led by range officer Jayanta Goswami, reached
the spot on Saturday morning and found the carcass of the elephant,
following which a team of police from Rani Police Station (Meghalaya) and
Nangpu Forest Range (Meghalaya) also visited the spot to take stock of the
situation.
Another team of forest officials, led by East Kamrup Forest Division DFO
Rohini Ballav Saikia and ACF AK Deka, also visited the site of the
incident. DFO Saikia said that sniffer dogs will be used for investigation
and a joint operation will be launched against the poachers by Assam and
Meghalaya forest and police officials.
Later, the team confirmed that poachers from Meghalaya killed the elephant
for meat.
Veterinary doctor Dr Narayan Dewri and field assistant Ashim Das, who
conducted the post-mortem of the elephant, said the elephant died 15 days
ago. The animal, however, was buried at the site.
Locals of the area alleged that sounds of gunshots are mostly heard in the
night hours in the forest reserve area. “Although people have informed
about it to the nearest forest office, the forest department never took any
action against it,” one of the locals claimed.