Assam: Man Arrested for Killing Elephant in Goalpara; Body Parts Seized

GOALPARA: A man was arrested on charges of killing a male elephant in Assam's Goalpara district following his surrender late Tuesday evening. The accused, identified as Fredison Sangma, had surrendered to Central Range Krishnai, from where the authorities' seized parts of the body of the elephant.

The elephant is said to be around 18-20 years old and found dead in a paddy field at Barigaon village, which comes under the Matia subdivision. Early Tuesday morning, the locals informed the forest officials that they had found the dead body. After examining it, the authorities found that its trunk was cut off and that the tail and nails were absent. They also found the electrocution marks like strands of wire near the body.

Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) for Goalpara Forest Division, Subimal Kounda, confirmed the killing as well as the preliminary post-mortem. "The elephant must have strayed into the village in search of food," said Kounda.

A search operation led the officials to Borjhar Garopara village, from where they traced Sangma and found that he had kept those body parts in his house. The pressure from the local villagers also led him to surrender although he could not give the proper answers during his interrogation.

Charges have been filed against him under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and has been sent to judicial custody for seven days after attending the court on Wednesday.

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