Korba, June 28: Three persons were arrested on Monday for allegedly removing tusks of a dead elephant in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district, a forest official said. On June 11, a male elephant was found dead with its tusks missing in a forest near Darhora village under the Pratappur forest range, with a preliminary probe indicating that the pachyderm had been struck by lightning.

The carcass of the elephant was in a decomposed state as it was lying there for 7-8 days, he said. The accused Pradesi Ram (60) had allegedly removed the tusks with the help of his son-in-law Udit Lal (38) and Abhay Kumar (30). Malaysia: Borneo Pygmy Elephant Shot 70 Times, Tusks Removed.

"Udit had concealed the tusks inside a heap of paddy straw in his village Ghumadand," the official said, adding that Udit was nabbed on a tip-off that he was trying to sell the tusks. A pair of tusks was recovered from the accused.

Two forest department employees were suspended and three officials, including Surajpur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), shifted out of Surajpur in connection with the death of the elephant, the official said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)