A wild elephant which allegedly killed five people in western Assam’s Goalpara district died on Sunday morning, five days after it was captured and transported to the Orang National Park straddling Darrang and Sonitpur districts.
Assam MLA Padma Hazarika and his cousin, who had volunteered to be in the team that captured the elephant, had shot the pachyderm with tranquilliser darts. State forest department officials said an autopsy by two veterinarians sent to the park from Guwahati would ascertain whether it died of drug overdose or some other reasons.
Mr. Hazarika, who represents the BJP from the Sootea Assembly constituency, was the adviser to a committee the government had formed to capture the elephant following public pressure. His family has traditionally captured, domesticated and owned elephants.
State Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya had defended letting the MLA and his cousin tranquillise the elephant. “He has experience of handling elephants and forest officials were with him at the time of capturing the wild jumbo,” he said.
Experts said the elephant could have died of stress. “Whenever an overly large wild elephant is restrained, there is a high chance of it coming into shock and dropping down,” said Kaushik Baruah, honorary wildlife warden.
