Elephant ''Poisoned'' To Death Over Mahout Dispute In Bihar

An elephant was found dead in Bihar's Begusarai district on Sunday, with its mahout claiming that the pachyderm was poisoned, the police said.

Mohammad Maksud lodged an FIR against the elephant's previous mahouts Mohammad Gayas, Mohammad Shamshad and Mohammad Nishad accusing them of poisoning the pachyderm to death over a dispute with him, senior police official Rajan Sinha said.

The elephant was owned by a family of Tajpur village under Teghra police station limits.

An investigation into the case is on, Mr Sinha said.

Begusarai Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjay Kumar Sinha said a team of veterinary doctors will conduct a post-mortem of the elephant.

The elephant will be buried under the supervision of forest department officials, he added.