Chhattisgarh: 3 arrested for chopping up, burying elephant 5 yrs ago

Three villagers have been arrested for chopping up and burying an elephant which was electrocuted to death, over almost five years ago, and attempting to sell its teeth recently, police said. The tusker had died after coming in contact with an electrified fence put up to prevent animals straying into agricultural fields.

Three villagers have been arrested for chopping up and burying an elephant which was electrocuted to death here, over almost five years ago, and attempting to sell its teeth recently, police said. The tusker had died after coming in contact with an electrified fence put up to prevent mals straying into agricultural fields.

The matter resurfaced a couple of months back when informers from the region told the Dugli Police about the incident and added probable information about one of the culprits attempting to sell off teeth extracted from the pachyderm.

"Almost five years ago, an elephant died due to electrocution from wires set around a field. The owner along with his two sons had cut up the mal and buried it in the farmland," Superintendent of Police (SP), Dhamtari BP Rajbhanu said.

The police official further said that the three accused- Chain Singh and his two sons, Ranjit and Sanjit - were interrogated following which they accepted their crime.

"Three villagers have been arrested in connection with the case. The carcass of the elephant too has been recovered based on the information received from them. They had extracted the teeth of the elephant and were probably attempting to sell it off," he said.

District Forest Officer (DFO), Dhamtari, Amitabh Vachpai told that the elephant teeth have been recovered from the accused. He added that carcass recovered will be sent for forensic examination and strict action will be taken against the culprits.

( With inputs from ANI )