The carcass of a grown-up tusker was found in the Baniabandha jungle under the Khuntuni Forest Range on Friday morning.
According to sources, the carcass was of six to seven days old, and the tusks of the dead pachyderm had been stolen.
Athagarh DFO Manoj Mohapatra and Khuntuni Ranger Ratnakar Das along with other forest staffs are conducing inquiries into the incident. local veterinary surgeons conducted autopsy on the jumbo’s carcass.
However, Ranger Das told this paper that though the cause of the pachyderm’s death was yet to be ascertained, yet circumstantial evidence indicated that poachers have killed it for tusks. DFO Mohapatra said inquiry was still on to ascertain the cause of death.