Sivasagar: Six persons were arrested in connection with the death of two jumbos in Sivasagar district. The six accused have been arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 on Sunday. Two elephants were killed due to electrocution caused by the fences put up by the villagers at Dighal Dariali area, Disangmukh in Sivasagar district.
The six accused have been identified as Runjun Chetia, Pankaj Gogoi, Bulbul Gogoi, Manoj Gogoi, Amar Gogoi, and Ankur Gogoi. The assistant conservator forest (ACF) of Sivasagar district, Champak Deka said that during the interrogation, one of the accused accepted that they killed the animals to protect their crops. ACF Deka further said that a case under the Wildlife Protection Act has been registered against the accused persons.
The accused have committed a non-bailable offence as they intentionally killed the wild Asian elephants. The villagers put up the electric fences as herds of wild elephants often enter the Disangmukh area, and damage houses and crops.
Two elephants of age 23 and 26 were electrocuted to death on Saturday. Both of the wild elephants came in contact with an electric wire, which was planted near the paddy field. The police along with a team of forest officials reached Disangmukh of Sunday morning. They arrested the six accused.
Report shows that Assam has a record of losing 113 elephants due to electrocution in the last one decade. Although the official number is counted between 2009 to September 2020, the unofficial number of such deaths might be more.
The State Forest department is apparently looking helpless to prevent cases of electrocution of elephants as villagers in many districts are putting up electric fences to protect their crops and homes from the wandering pachyderms. In between August and December this year six elephants have died due to electrocution in and around the Manas National Park. At least five elephants were electrocuted in Chirang district during this period.