Overview
- Palamu police located the female elephant in Bihar’s Chhapra district with help from local police and forest officials, then recovered it as case property.
- The animal was placed on jimmanama with the person from whose possession it was found pending legal verification of title.
- Police say the elephant was jointly purchased for about Rs 40 lakh, while three partners sold it to a Chhapra resident for Rs 27 lakh after the complainant had claimed sole ownership and cited a value near Rs 1 crore in the FIR.
- A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and investigators are examining the roles of the partners and the mahout with no arrests reported so far.
- Officers reported using an embedded tracking chip to confirm the animal’s location after a tip, as authorities underscore interstate trade concerns and stress that transporting captive elephants requires a Chief Wildlife Warden’s certificate.