Rogue Elephant That Killed 4 Persons Shot Dead By Hyderabad Shooter
Hyderabadi sharp-shooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan on Saturday morning shot dead a rogue elephant that killed five persons and destroyed crops and houses in the last three days in Purnia district of Bihar. The 35-year-old tusker strayed into Bihar from Nepal four days ago and created havoc in some villages of the district.
A teenager was killed by the elephant, while three others were trampled to death in the following two days. On Saturday, the tusker killed another person and damaged a house.
“We tried to tranquilize it and translocate it. But it continued to destroy property and kill people. It was moving towards human habitations and posing a risk. Finally, on instructions of the forest officials who were accompanying me, I shot it with a .458 Winchester Magnum bullet and it collapsed. It was inevitable,” Mr. Shafath Ali told.
The operation consisted of trained mahouts from West Bengal and Bihar who were supervised by Regional Chief Conservator of Forest PK Gupta and District Forest Officer SS Singh. Several villagers also kept a watch to prevent the tusker from entering the villages or fields.
Later, medical examination of the elephant revealed that it was wounded in the trunk and might have caused it to become aggressive.