The mystery over the killing of an adult elephant was finally unraveled on Saturday when Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) officials said that the tusker was killed not by any professional poacher or by any criminal but a father and son duo. Bunifas Khalkho and his son Rafael Khalkho jointly decided to kill this tusker as it used to roam around their standing crops like maize and paddy in their fields on the intervening night of October 10/11.Rafael did this crime. The tusker died at 1.20 pm on October 12.
Chief conservator of forest cum field director PTR M P Singh in a press conference in Betla on Saturday, “ These two persons had set their minds to kill this tusker and they did it. The tusker had so far not damaged their crop so much that could have irked them to kill it. These two have criminal bent of mind and the lurking around of this tusker they just could not take well’. He said that he has seen to Khalkhos’ fields and they look like living in heaven as their 30 acres of field have lush green paddy and there was no sign of any crop damage by this tusker at all.
Singh said the father and the son planned quite thoughtfully. They had one muzzle loaded gun but were not sure if one would do the job so Rafael arranged another muzzle loaded gun for rupees 300 which he gave to his acquaintance Kamal Oraon of Ker village for this gun and when armed with two muzzle loaded guns the father and son ambushed this tusker and Rafael fired two shots that proved too fatal for
the tusker.
Singh said, first the father tried to shoot the muzzle loaded gun but when he felt shaking in his hands he just asked his son Rafael to fire and Rafel fired two shots with two muzzle loaded guns. One gun of their own and the other hired at Rs 300 from Kamal Oraon.
Singh said the father and the son have denied to have cast any eye on the 54 inch long tusk weighing more than 18 Kgs. PTR officials before cremating this tusker extracted this 54 inch long tusk weighing more than 18 Kgs to be safely preserved in NIC Betla.
Father Bunifas said ‘ We had no desire to have this tusk. We just wanted to get rid of it as it was so lurking around and used to destroy our standing crops’.
The father and son have been remanded in judicial custody on Saturday. PTR officials let off three others on bond who were detained who are Abraham Kalkho, Kamal Oraon ( this one of a different village) and Kameshwar Oraon
Singh praised the latehar district police especially three police stations Satbarwa, Chhipadohar and Barwadeeh in mounting pressure and search for the killers of this tusker. He also hailed the efforts of the CPMF the CRPF deployment here for this work.
PTR officials have recovered two muzzle loaded guns which were used by Rafael to shoot this tusker to death.