Elephant electrocuted in Jhargram orchard, 3 arrested

Jhargram: An adult male elephant died after being electrocuted while entering a mango orchard at a private guesthouse in the Garh Salboni area of Jhargram. Three persons were arrested for laying electric lines that caused the animal's death.The carcass was found on Tuesday morning. On receiving information, forest department officials, including the range officer of Lodhasuli under the Jhargram forest division, reached the spot. Jhargram DFO Umar Imam inspected the site. BJP Jhargram MLA Laxmikant Sahu and cops also visited the area.A postmortem confirmed that the elephant died of cardiac arrest after electrocution.Elephants have frequently moved through the Salboni area of Lodhasuli range for years, forest officials said. A residential elephant named Ramlal is known to spend most of the year in the region. According to the forest department, a herd of five elephants had entered the area a few days ago, and officials suspect the dead elephant belonged to that group.Jhargram DFO Umar Imam said, "We inspected the site. A male elephant aged between 20 to 25 years has died due to electrocution."