The decomposed body of tusker was found in Taptajharana forest under Kantala bit of Pallahara range in Angul district.
Getting information, Pallahara Range Officer Duryadhana Kerai and Bantala beat Forester Bharati Kapardar and other staffs rushed to the spot and seized the decomposed body of tusker. Later, the Deogarh DFO and ACF also visited the spot and ordered for a investigations.
After postmortem, the tusker’s body was buried in a pit. It is suspected that the animal was killed by the forest mafia as one of the tusks was missing. The localvillagers suspect the forest officials active connivance with the forest mafia as a number of such incidences have occurred in the concerned range.