Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) staff arrested a elephant poacher at Jashipur area in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. A plant based poison has been also recovered from the poacher. They allegedly used the poison to kill elephants in the national park.
The accused named Surendra Sinku was on the radar of the TR officials for poaching of two elephants at Jenabil and Pithabata. A carefully-planned operation led to his arrest from Jashipur. Root materials were apparently seized from his possession during search.
Senior IFS officer Susanta Nanda shared the news on social media platform X. He wrote, “Happy to share that a hard-core elephant poacher was arrested at Jashipur by Similipal staff. The group were using a plant based poison to kill elephants. He was involved in recent elephant poaching at Simlipal Tiger Reserve. All kudos to team Simlipal. Just Fantastic🙏”
The STR officials produced the culprit Sinku before the court on Tuesday and got remand.
Forest officials who have followed the pattern are of the view that plant-based poisons are known to be derived from the roots of Aconitum sp, a plant which is distributed in alpine forests of western and eastern Himalayas.