Assam: One arrested in wild elephant death case in Tinsukia district

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA: A local was arrested on Friday for allegedly installing an illegal electric fence that led to the death by electrocution of a female wild elephant on July 7 in a paddy field at Balijan near the Duarmara reserve forest under the Doomdooma forest division in Tinsukia district. Preliminary investigations and post-mortem reports have confirmed electrocution as the cause of death, forest officials said.

The arrested individual, identified as Lehuk Pator, had set up the unauthorised electric fence around his residence near the Upper Dehing reserve forest under Dihing Patkai Elephant Reserve to deter intruding wild elephants. He has been booked under Sections 9, 39, 50, and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The case highlights the intensifying human-elephant conflict across Assam. According to data shared by the State Government in the Assembly session on Tuesday, 1,147 people and 246 elephants have died due to such conflicts over the past decade. In response to the growing crisis, the Assam Government has also announced the expansion of the Gaja Mitra 2.0 to bolster mitigation efforts and promote coexistence between humans and elephants in conflict-prone regions.

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