Raipur: An elephant calf was injured in a bomb explosion in Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR) in Gariaband district in Chhattisgarh, a senior forest officer said on Monday.
The incident came to light on November seven when the local forest ranger received reports of blood stains in a vast patch of area in the Risgaon forest range where movements of 38-40 elephants were noticed, the forest officer said.
A team of forest officers rushed to the area and found splinters of potash bomb, blood stains and pugmarks of elephants at the spot, deputy director of USTR Varun Jain told this newspaper.
“A three-day search involving dog squad and drone surveillance has led to disclosure that an elephant calf was injured in the potash bomb explosion”, he said.
The calf was found injured in its jaw and legs during the drone surveillance on Sunday, Mr Jain said.
It is yet to be ascertained if the injured calf had stepped on the bomb leading to the explosion or if the bomb was detonated by suspected poachers targeting the baby pachyderm, a forest officer said.
The poachers might have planted the bomb to hunt wild boars and the elephant calf became the victim, Mr Jain said.
An investigation was on into it.
A part of USTR is known to be Maoist-infested.
Mr Jain however ruled out the possibility of Maoists’ involvement in the incident saying that the ultras usually use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for explosion, not potash bombs.
A police case has been registered in the incident.
Meanwhile, the injured elephant calf has been spotted with an elephant herd and a rescue operation was launched to separate the calf from the herd for its treatment, Mr Jain said.
