Palamu district is investigating the disappearance of an elephant valued at one crore rupees. The mahout is suspected of fleeing with the animal. The forest department and police are using a tracking chip implanted in the elephant to aid in the search. Narendra Kumar Shukla, a resident of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, reported the theft at the Medininagar Sadar police station on Friday. Shukla explained he had taken custody of an elephant named Jaymati from Sangam Lal. He relocated the elephant to Jharkhand due to a lack of resources in his own village. Munna Pandey and Munna Pathak, both from Mirzapur, were then tasked with caring for the elephant. The pair befriended Tarkeshwar Nath, who owned another elephant. They travelled with the elephant to Jorkat in the Medininagar Sadar police station area of Palamu. Shukla said he arrived in Palamu on August 11, finding the elephant and mahout in Jorkat. When he returned on August 13, both were gone. Despite a widespread search across Palamu and other parts of Jharkhand, the elephant and mahout remained missing. Shukla filed a First Information Report (FIR) a month after the elephant vanished. Police officials at Sadar police station confirmed that the elephant is estimated to be worth one crore rupees and investigations are underway. The forest department is using the elephant’s chip to track its location.
