FIRs filed on Bengal villagers electrocuting jumbos

The West Bengal forest department has lodged police complaints against some villagers in north Bengal for allegedly electrocuting two elephants, an official said Thursday.

A patrolling team of foresters early in the week recovered the carcasses of a tusker from Upper Kalabari in the Daina range and of a cow elephant in Panjhora under Chalsa range, both in Dooars region of north Bengal.

Their post-mortem examination found evidence of electrocution.

"Some villagers might have done it and it is an offence. So we have lodged FIRs with the police stations in the areas," P.T. Bhutia, Chief Conservator of Forest, Northern Circle, told IANS.

Villagers often resort to electrifying wire fences to protect their houses and paddy fields from elephants. Whenever an elephant tries to break into that fence, it gets electrocuted.

Officials have been directed to step up efforts in generating awareness among residents of the region to prevent such incidents.