Chhattisgarh: Elephant electrocuted in Jashpur; couple held

A wild elephant got electrocuted after coming in contact with an electrified fence at a farm in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, a forest official said on Friday. The farm owner and his wife have been arrested by the forest department, he said. The carcass of the tusker was recovered from Jhiliberna village under Tapkara forest range on Friday morning, divisional forest officer (DFO) Srikrishna Jadhav said.

As per preliminary investigation, Ranjit Kispotta had allegedly connected the barbed-wire fencing around his paddy field next to his house, with a high-powered domestic electricity line to protect his farm from pachyderms, he said. The elephant came in contact with the fencing and got electrocuted, he said. Forest and police officials rushed to the spot and sent the carcass for post-mortem, the DFO said. A case has been registered in this connection and Kispotta and his wife Anandi were arrested, he said.

Forested areas of northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Korba, Surajpur, Raigarh, Jashpur and Koriya districts, are known for human-animal conflicts. The region has witnessed several killings of tribals as well as elephants and widespread damage to houses and crops by rogue pachyderms in the past years. Last month, six elephants had died in four districts of the state due to various reasons, including electrocution, forest officials said.