Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Hyderabadi hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan hired to shoot killer elephant

An elephant blamed for killing more than a dozen people in Jharkhand and Bihar was shot dead on Friday.

A team led by well-known hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan from Hyderabad, along with veterinarians, had been camping in the higher reaches of Raj Mahal hills of Sahibganj for the goal.

Jharkhand's chief forest and wildlife conservator LR Singh said the decision to kill the elephant came after a week-long operation to try to tranquilise and capture the animal.

"It was quite a hard operation because of the thick bushes and since the animal had turned rogue it charged at us before I pulled the trigger", Mr Khan said.

Violent encounters between elephants and humans were an "increasing trend", said Singh, as vast swathes of forest are cleared for human settlements or industry.

Jharkhand government hired Hyderabad hunter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan to hunt down an elephant which crushed four people in Bihar before crossing into neighbouring Jharkhand killing 11 more. The rocky terrain and thick vegetation and visibility of just 15 feet of Sahibganj district made it impossible for capturing the elephant. "Something must be done", Singh said, referring to one of the poorest indigenous tribal communities in eastern India. "But that's the last resort and we will take a call in a day or two".

"We have a team of experts and hunters here with us". The tusker is believed to have wandered from its herd and got lost.

Of the 11 deaths in the state, nine of the victims were Paharias, Singh said.

"He is one of the best out there".

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.

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