West Bengal: Severed head of elephant found floating in river, probe on

The Forest officials in West Bengal have reported that they found the severed head of an elephant, floating down in the river in Alipurduar district on Friday. The officials confirmed that the tusks of the elephant are missing.

The police suspect that the elephant has been killed by poachers somewhere in Assam.

According to a preliminary investigation, Debashis Sharma, deputy field director of Buxa Tiger Reserve (East) informed, “The elephant was not killed in West Bengal. It was slain somewhere in Assam. An investigation is being conducted. We are coordinating with our counterparts in Assam.”

According to the official, poachers in Assam may have murdered the elephant for its tusks and after obtaining the tusks, they removed the head and dumped it in the river. The officials assert that the elephant has been killed recently.

The residents of the village near Volka range of Buxa Tiger Reserve spotted the severed elephant head floating in the Sankosh River in Alipurduar on Friday. The area that connects and is close to the Bengal-Assam border.