Overview
- Villagers discovered the carcasses of a mother and two calves in a paddy field in the Hartara area of Salboni early on Sunday and alerted forest officials.
- Forest department teams recovered the bodies and say preliminary accounts point to contact with a live wire used for an electric irrigation pump, with formal cause to be confirmed by post-mortem examinations.
- Officials say the inquiry will examine who installed the connection, whether it was authorised, the height and condition of the wire, and whether inspections or safety norms were followed.
- State forest sources note this is part of a recurring pattern in Junglemahal where farmers use electric lines or illegally energised fences around fields, and a tusker was electrocuted in Falakata about a month earlier.
- If electrocution is confirmed the case could prompt stricter inspections, closer coordination between wildlife and power authorities, and renewed enforcement actions to protect elephant corridors and farmlands.