The death of the elephant known as ‘Kallaru Tusker’ had been due to natural causes and not due to a shooting incident near the Tantirimale border of the Wilpattu National Park as earlier suspected.
This was the ruling given by veterinary surgeon Dr. Taraka Prasad of the Wildlife Conservation Department who earlier conducted an on-the-spot investigation.
After the postmortem examination held at the Anuradhapura courts complex on February 6, Dr. Prasad also concluded that the pair of tusks seized by police and the tusker's head and bone parts also matched with each other. He said no gun shot wounds were found anywhere in the tusker's body.
Dr. Prasad said the tusker might have died abut two years ago due to some illness.
The earth under the tusker's carcass had heavily subsided suggesting that it had struggled before ultimately passing away. The earth would not have subsided if the tusker died instantly due to a shooting or electrocution due to lightning. Anuradhapura Police found the body parts of the tusker at Mollikulam, Naddukuttu in Silavatura on February 5.
Police believe that the three suspects, including a Moulavi now in remand for the possession of the tusker's tusks, would have removed them after finding the carcass during a visit to Wilpattu National Park.
Police had caught them while they were trying to sell the two tusks to a police decoy for Rs. 5 million. They were earlier produced in court and remanded till February 9.
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