Man held for killing elephant in Ganjam

Berhampur: Forest officials arrested a 45-year-old man on Monday on charges of killing a sub-adult male elephant near Beniapalli village in Ganjam district.Umakant Pradhan alias Landa, shot the elephant with his country-made gun on Friday while trying to protect his paddy field.

Forest personnel found the elephant’s carcass during patrolling near Baibili reserve forest.

A team of local veterinarians conducted an autopsy on the carcass.Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Ghumusar North, Himansu Sekhar Mohanty, said that Pradhan initially tried to scare away two elephants that entered his field by using firecrackers. When his attempts failed, he shot at them. The injured elephant ran about 100 metres before collapsing to death.

Pradhan returned home without reporting the incident. “During interrogation, he confessed to killing the elephant,” said the DFO.Officials seized two country-made guns, one of them defunct, hidden in bushes near the village. They also found some gun powder, pellets and a poisonous liquid used to kill wild animals.Locals claimed Pradhan was a known poacher who hunted wild boars and other animals for consumption and sale. Forest officials are verifying if he was involved in any poaching case. The DFO said they are verifying whether others were involved in killing the elephant.