M A I N   N E W S

Mysterious death of elephant
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepore, March 28
All efforts of the administration and the Army went in vain, when a she elephant, “Roopa”, died under mysterious circumstances near Ludhiana while being deported to Chhatbir Zoo, after she had gone berserk following a brief illness.

According to information, the elephant became excited last evening and went on the rampage damaging electric poles and the dividers near GT Road in the Cantonment area. Fearing that the elephant may create more havoc and cause further damage to property and harm to human lives, the caretaker of the elephant with the assistance of about 30 persons tried to bring her under control by tying its legs with ropes.

Meanwhile, the SDM, Mr D.P.S. Kharbanda, along with the SHO, Mr Shamsher Singh, reached the spot. Thereafter, the police tied the legs of the elephant with iron chains. The Senior Veterinary Doctor, Dr Subhash Trehan, who also reached the spot, gave tranquilliser shots to the elephant to sedate her. According to Dr Trehan, under whom the elephant was undergoing treatment, “Roopa” was administered 25 to 30 ml of a tranquilliser named Xylodac in divided doses. Even, the tranquilliser did not work, as the elephant was still feeling uneasy.

At this point of time it was decided to deport the elephant to a place where it could be properly looked after. Major-Gen L.M. Tiwari, GOC, Golden Arrow Division, after a telephonic request from Mr Kharbanda sent a team of Army officials led by Col R. R. Srivastava, Commanding Officer, 607 EME Bn, along with a heavy duty recovery vehicle (HDRV). The entire operation to load the elephant in a truck which started at around 7.30 last evening lasted two hours as Major Jagdish Prabhu and SM Om Parkash Yadav made hectic efforts to virtually lift and drag the elephant weighing 25 tonnes onto the truck.

Two police NGOs and the pharmacist of the Civil Veterinary Hospital sat with the tranquillised elephant in the truck. But at Ludhiana it was noted that the elephant had died.

The elephant was brought to Government Polyclinic, Ferozepore, at 4.30 this morning where a team of five doctors — Dr S. Trehan, Dr Joginder Singh, Dr Vikram Mahindra, Dr Bhupinder Singh and Dr Gurmeet Singh — after getting orders from the higher authorities conducted the post mortem.

According to information, the elephant was brought here for taking part in a religious procession and was ill for the past two days. The caretaker of the elephant, Uday Nath told this correspondent that the elephant named “Roopa” who was 30 years old belonged to Mahant Mangal Giri of Shamli, near Muzzafarnagar, and was worth Rs 5 lakh. He said on Sunday the elephant showed signs of uneasiness so he went to the Veterinary Hospital, where Dr Trehan advised him to give 200 gm of Digestovan as it seemed to be a case of Tympanitis, a sort of indigestion disorder. After four hours, when the condition of the elephant did not improve, Uday again went to the doctor, who this time advised him to give four packets (400 gm) of Tympol and told him to report the next morning. Last morning, when the elephant showed no signs of improvement, she was given an injection. Unconfirmed reports suggest that it could be a case of Trypanosis .

The chances of the death due to overdose of either medicine or the tranquilliser cannot be ruled out. The outcome of the postmortem report, which is awaited, will only confirm the cause of the death.