Berhampur: The bullet-ridden body of a tusker was found lying in the Digapahandi area in Odisha’s Ganjam district early on Sunday.
Sources in the locality said that a herd of elephants from the Digapahandi Forest Range were roaming in the nearby area of the village for some days.
On Sunday morning, some people found the tusker lying in a pool of blood with its throat slit open inside the forest between Meghajholi and Nimakhandi villages in the morning and informed the Forest staffs.
Following information, a team of Forest staffs rushed to the area. Upon examination, the Forest staff confirmed that the tusker has been shot dead by the poachers as bullet injuries were found on its neck, stomach and legs.
As the place where the tusker was found dead lies in the border of Gajapati and Ganjam districts that come under Bhismagiri section of Chandragiri Forest Range in Gajapati Forest Division and the Digapahandi Range Forest in Ganjam Forest Division, a dispute has arisen between the Forest officials of both the Forest Divisions over the death of the tusker.
However, the officials of both the Forest Divisions have decided to conduct the post mortem of the tusker and investigate into the incident.
