'Rogue' elephant shot dead for killing 15 in Jharkhand, Bihar

An elephant blamed for killing more than a dozen people in Jharkhand and Bihar was shot dead on Friday. A well known hunter Sharpshooter Shafath Ali Khan was called from Hyderabad, he fired two bullets on the head of the animal from a distance of just 10 meters. The elephant died within few minutes.

Shafath Ali  Khan said it was the seventh elephant he had killed, adding that in the past he had also killed five tigers and eight leopards that had threatened people in other parts of the country.

The forest official said that casualties could have continued to increase had several people from villages atop the densely forested hills not come down to lower areas.

The wildlife wing of the Jharkhand forest department had on Thursday evening issued a shoot-at-sight order after finding no alternative to protect the elephant.

Forest officials removed the elephant's tusks and planned to bury the animal in the forest with salt and some flowers. The elephant could be protected by driving it to a small forest area and digging trenches around it,” said Srivastava, a former steering committee member of Project Elephant.