Sambalpur DFO Viswanth on Thursday cleared the air on the elephant’s death in Saplahara village under Jujumura block on Tuesday.
He told reporters that poachers had shot the tusker and it has been confirmed after postmortem. “Their intention was to kill the animal and take away its tusks, but they couldn’t be successful.” he said.
Due to the bullet injuries, the vital parts of the elephants became nonfunctional. Even no medicine worked on it leading to its death, he said.
“We have detained three suspected persons in this connection and detailed investigations are going on,” the DFO added.