Chief Conservator of Forests (Hassan Circle) R. Ravishankar said he will conduct an investigation into Arjuna’s death and submit a report to the department.
Mr. Ravishankar, speaking to the reporters after the final rites at Dabbalikatte, said that there was no bullet injury to Arjuna, as suggested by some mahouts in their statements to the media. “We have done the postmortem. There was no bullet injury.”
Further, with regard to reports of firing a tranqulizer dart by mistake at tamed elephant Prashanth, the officer said if such a thing happened, the officers would look into it. “We have the exact count of tranqulizer doses procured and used. We will probe if it has happened,” he said.
The officer said that, besides Arjuna, five tamed elephants were part of the operation. The wild elephant, which was in musth, attacked Arjuna. “Mahout and Kavadigas got down and ran. Even after our staff opened fire in the air, the wild elephant did not go but continued to attack. None of us could go near the animal for some time as there was a movement of wild elephants nearby. Later, we learned that Arjuna was no more. He sacrificed his life,” he said.
Mr. Ravishankar said that the department would build a memorial for Arjuna at the place where it had been buried. Another memorial would be built at Balle camp, the elephant’s native place, he added.
