A calculated and brutal attack on a domesticated tusker in Lakhipather under the Digboi Forest Division has thrown a spotlight on what investigators believe is an organised ivory poaching network operating in and around the Upper Dehing Reserve Forest in Tinsukia district.
The victim, a tusker named Mangal Singh, is believed to be among the oldest elephants in the district. Owned by Hunjoy Duaniya of Margherita, the elephant had been kept in the Lakhipather area for grazing over the past two years, with prior intimation given to the Forest Department.
Despite the Forest Department being informed of the elephant's presence, the precaution failed to prevent the attack, which took place on April 15.
According to preliminary findings, poachers carried out a targeted strike on Mangal Singh, who was known for his large ivory tusks measuring nearly two feet each. The animal was reportedly tied inside the forest when the attackers struck — sawing off both tusks while the elephant was still alive before fleeing the scene.
The tusker was left critically injured, and hours passed before any medical assistance reached the site, pointing to serious lapses in emergency response.
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The attack on Mangal Singh is the latest in a disturbing series of ivory poaching crimes in the Lakhipather Forest Range.
In an earlier case, a tusker was electrocuted before its tusks were surgically removed — an operation that indicated careful planning, precision, and deep familiarity with the terrain. Arrests were made in that instance, but the recurrence of such crimes suggests the larger poaching network has remained intact.
A similar case occurred on May 30 last year, when a mature elephant was electrocuted in a tea garden and its tusk removed. A 19-day operation by forest officials resulted in the recovery of a 1.6-foot ivory tusk weighing 1.8 kilograms from the accused's residence — one of the rare successful recoveries in such cases. Despite that outcome, enforcement has not been sufficient to dismantle the supply chain driving the illegal ivory trade in the region.
A particularly troubling pattern has emerged around the timing of these incidents. The earlier electrocution case surfaced shortly after the transfer of then Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ranjith Ram from Digboi. The latest attack on Mangal Singh occurred within days of the transfer of DFO Sandeep Bendi.
This pattern has fuelled serious speculation that poaching groups may be deliberately exploiting administrative transition periods — when surveillance is perceived to be at its weakest and new officials are yet to establish control on the ground.
Adding to those concerns, Lakhipather Forest Range Officer Montu Chetia, who led last year's successful recovery operation and arrests, has also been transferred to Lekhapani. The back-to-back transfers of key officials have raised urgent questions about continuity in anti-poaching surveillance at one of the region's most sensitive forest zones.
Investigators believe the crimes follow a well-defined pattern: targeting high-value tuskers, using methods such as electrocution or immobilisation, extracting ivory with precision tools, and escaping swiftly.
These are not opportunistic acts — they point to an organised, well-informed network with inside knowledge of the terrain and possibly of administrative schedules.
The repeated targeting of Lakhipather and its adjoining forests has raised a critical question: whether the region is being used as a soft corridor by ivory poachers who have identified it as an area of persistent enforcement gaps.
The current DFO of Digboi Forest Division, Rohini Kumar Das, who assumed charge only weeks before the incident, has yet to issue an official statement on the attack or on the measures being planned in response.