<i>Criminals cut off and steal elephant tusks</i>
Criminals cut off and stole the tusks of a pet elephant at Sagornal hill area in Kulaura upazila under the district on Wednesday. "As usual, the elephant was grazing in Sagornal reserve forest on Wednesday. In the afternoon, when the mahout went to there bring the elephant home, he saw that the animal's tusks had been stolen," said Tofayel Ahmed, owner of the elephant. Tofayel, a resident of Sagornal village, filed a case with Kulaura police station in this connection the next day. "After losing the tusks, my elephant is not taking usual amounts of food and so, it is getting weak. Market price of the elephant is Tk 20 to 25 lakh. A pair of tusks is sold for at least Tk 4 lakh as costly things are made from it," he said. Tofayel is one of the licensees who can take part in auctions by forest department to sell matured trees and bamboos. People like him, locally known as mohaldars, keep elephants for carrying timber and bamboo from the forest. "Cutting off an elephant's tusks, which are important organs of the large creature, leads to its lack of vitality. Elephants never recover from such an wound and their life is shortened due to it," said Dr Md Shahid Ullah, district livestock officer of Moulvibazar. Police is investigating the matter, said Md Azizur Rahman, the officer in charge of Kulaura police station.
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