Missing Elephant and Mahout Case in Palamu: Owner Files Police Report

Daltonganj: An adult female elephant and her mahout has gone missing from Jorkat in Palamu a month ago. The elephant’s alleged owner, Narender Shukla of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, lodged a case with the Sadar police station on Friday.The officer in-charge of Sadar police station, Lalji, said, “Shukla claimed that he had accompanied the pachyderm and its mahout from Mirzapur to Jorkat. On August 11, he returned home after urging the mahout (whose name was not disclosed by the police) to move on to Ranchi. He has been allegedly trying to contact the mahout but failed. A case was registered against the mahout under Sec 314 of the BNSS, which deals with criminal breach of trust.

”Shukla said his elephant is registered under the Wildlife Act in UP and can tour any part of the country.Regional chief conservator of forests S R Natesh said, “There are instances where people take out elephants on the streets and beg. This case may be like that.”