Indian elephant killed one in Bangladesh

 

COOCH BEHAR, Jan. 11: A wild elephant, suspected to be came out from a forest in Jalpaiguri district, stormed into Bangladesh at early morning of today. It killed one, seriously injured one and damaged about twenty-five dwellings at Burimari under Lalmonirhat district, about 3.5-kilometre inside the neighbouring country from the International border in Mekhliganj sub-division of Cooch Behar.

 

Apprehending that the jawans of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and locals may kill the full grown tusker, the district magistrate of Cooch Behar Mr Rajesh Kumar Sinha talked with his counterpart in Lalmonirhat, Md Rafiqul Islam over phone and requested the latter to save it.

 

Meanwhile, senior forest officials including chief conservator of forests, Mr S Patel, Cooch Behar DFO Mr Apurba Sen and Jalpaiguri DFO Mr Tapas Das reached Mekhliganj. Two tamed elephants from Jaldapara – Priyadarshini and Purnima, a crane and a truck were also sent there. Some trained forest personnel of the elephant squad from Gorumara armed with guns loaded with tranquilliser bullets too went there to catch the pachyderm to get back it in Dooars forest.

 

Cooch Behar DM, Mr Sinha said that the elephant broke open the gate of the barbed wire fencing along the border under Doradabri border outpost adjacent to Pillar No. 849 at early hours of today and reached to Burimari.

 

This evening, a senior forest official said that arrangements are being taken to bring back the tusker with the help of the tamed elephants. If this plan fails they will try to tranquillise the tusker at Burimari where it went into rampage. After capturing it they will bring it back to Indian side of the border and later it would be set free in a forest in Dooars, he said. []