Padaviya residents question the delay in taking legal action against the suspects who electrocuted three wild elephants in the Padaviya Santuary.
The residents said that three weeks have lapsed after identifying the suspects who killed the three elephants at Bellankadawala in Kebithigollewa and yet Padaviya Wildlife Officers have not yet been able to arrest them.
The villagers said one of the elephants had been cut into pieces and burnt before its remains were buried. Wildlife Officers found its remains later. The three elephants had been killed by the suspects at an area 500 m away from the Padaviya -Anuradhapura main road. Wildlife Officers learnt of the crimes only two months after they took place. It is also revealed that one elephant had been killed on a plot of land within the Padaviya Santuary, while the other two were killed elsewhere. Queried by the media, Wildlife Officer N.P. Dissanayake said the remains of the elephants were decomposed by the time they were found. The suspects have been identified and they have been issued notice through the Kebithigollewa Magistrate. A statement has been taken from the main suspect’s father. The suspects have not been arrested as they have fled the area.
Wildlife Department Director General Sooriya Bandara said he was not aware of the matter and would look into it without delay.