Officials are hoping that the seven elephants would return to Tumbakota Reserve Forest
Forest authorities here have issued orders to shoot to kill an elephant that has killed 15 people — four in Bihar and 11 in Jharkhand — since March this year. The elephant, aged around 25 years, was last seen in Sahibganj district of Jharkhand and a hunter from Hyderabad has arrived and is camping in the area. The elephant had killed two persons earlier this week. Most of the victims were from the Paharia tribe who live in the densely forested hills of Sahibganj district. Efforts were made to tranquilise the elephant but have not yielded results so far. Jharkhand’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) L R Singh said, “We have been trying to tranquilise and capture the elephant for nearly a fortnight. But it has not yielded results. On the other hand, casualties have taken place… finally, we gave orders to shoot to kill.”
Forest authorities have called Nawab Shafath Ali Khan of Hyderabad who is camping with the team in Sahibganj. “He is among the most experienced names and is credited with culling neelgais in Bihar and killing a rogue elephant last year in the same state. He has been with us for the past few days. In fact, he has been trying to tranquilise and capture the elephant. But the terrain is proving to be the main difficulty,” Singh said, adding they will try to ensure minimum pain to the elephant. The elephant is roaming in the Raj Mahal Hills in Taljhari, Borio and Sahibganj blocks. “Visibility is less than 15 feet and the forest is so dense that entering it has not been possible… we were forced to issue the orders,” Singh said.
