Baby elephant gunned down for drinking their hooch

Suspects nabbed after three weeks

By Lasantha Niroshan – Ratnapura   

Three men who had gruesomely gunned down a baby elephant for drinking a stock of ‘Goda’ (semi brewed liquor) illicitly brewed by them and concealed in a remote location in Udawalawa forest, were nabbed by the police yesterday, three weeks after the incident.   

Udawalawa Police during a raid in Belawanagala area after about three weeks of the incident had managed to arrest three suspects who had been wanted in connection with the slaying of a baby elephant for drinking their hooch.   

Under interrogation the suspects had admitted that they shot dead the calf when it was drinking Goda in the illicit brewery run by them. Police had been conducting investigations of a complaint in this regard since May 2, to arrest the suspects.   

OIC Udawalawa Police, Inspector M. S. Dayawansa said the calf that deserted the herd had been released to the Udawalawa National Park in 2013 by the Wildlife Conservators. 

 
He said the circumstance that led to the killing came to light after the arrest of the suspects.   The muzzle loader gun used by the suspects to kill the calf and a stock of gun powder were seized during the raid. 

• The calf that deserted the herd had been released to the Udawalawa National Park in 2013 by the Wildlife Conservators