Elephant Calf Injured in Suspected Country-Made Bomb Blast in Chhattisgarh

Gariaband:  A tragic incident unfolds on Sunday when an elephant calf was injured in a suspected country-me bomb explosion in Udanti-Sitani Tiger Reserve (USTR) in Chhattisgarh 's Gariaband district, a forest official said on Sunday.

Deputy Director of USTR, Varun Jain, said that calf is part of a herd of 38-40 elephants currently roaming in Satlor area of Sitani forest range.

On vember 7, forest officials were alerted about heavy blood stains in an area where elephant herd h been. Upon investigation, y discovered t only blood stains but also fragments of a potash bomb scattered at site, he said.

very next day, an anti-poaching team and a dog squ were deployed in forest to find injured wild animal. On Sunday, forest personnel located injured calf by deploying a drone. drone visuals showed jaw of calf, d 5-6 years, is swollen and injuries in its leg, he said.

Prima facie, calf was injured when it tried to eat potash bomb which exploded, forest officer said.

However, it was yet to be ascertained wher bomb was planted by poachers to target elephants or wild boars, he ded.

medical treatment of injured calf will be started by veterinarians from Monday, he said.

Initially, we will try to treat calf by providing medicine-laced food, but if injuries are found to be serious, we will tranquilise calf and shift it to a camp for around a month, he said.

Meanwhile, forest department has anunced a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leing to arrest of person (s) who h planted bomb. A complaint has also been lodged at local police station, he ded.

(with ncy input)