A 20-year-old tusker was found dead in the forest area under Khanpur forest beat of Haridwar forest division on Thursday. While the forest officials affirmed it was a natural death, doubt lingers as some alleged that the poachers had shot the pachyderm dead for its tusks. The post-mortem report was awaited at the time of filing this report. While the foresters said that the elephant seemed to have died of dehydration the police on the other hand said that the exact cause of its death was yet to be ascertained. 

Around 6 am on Thursday morning, the forest department was informed about the carcass of an elephant lying in the forest area near HazaraGrant village of Roorkee. Later, speaking to The Pioneer, Roorkee sub-divisional officer Nand Vallabh Sharma said that their team had rushed to the spot along with doctors upon receiving the information. “The elephant’s mouth was frothing when the team reached the body. It indicates dehydration as the cause of death. We are, however, waiting for the post-moretm report to come. The exact cause of death would be ascertained after the report is received,” he said. Divisional Forest Officer Akash Verma said that no bullet wound or any kind of wound was found on the body of the elephant.  “The post–mortem is awaited,” he added. 

Notably, earlier on April 9, a tusker had died under suspicious circumstances. The allegation had run that it had died of electrocution when it had strayed into an agricultural land in Pathri area.

The suspicion had gained ground as the body of the 15-years-old elephant had been found near the fencing of a sugarcane field.

Besides, the villagers had been complaining of an elephant straying into their farm lands and feasting on the produce.