[ Bengia Ajum ]
SUNPURA, 5 Apr: The state’s environment, forest and climate change department, in collaboration with its Karnataka counterpart, has captured rogue elephants reportedly responsible for the deaths of several individuals in Deomali in Tirap district and here in Lohit district.
The operation began on 30 March, and the team captured one elephant near RKM School in Deomali on 1 April. The elephant was allegedly responsible for killing five people, including former MLA Kapchen Rajkumar in July 2025.
In a second operation, another rogue elephant -responsible for the deaths of two people, including police officer Martin Lego in February this year – was captured here on Sunday afternoon. The elephant was trapped near Jecko village.
“The operation started on Saturday afternoon. Thermal scanning was conducted, and eyewitness accounts were used to identify the elephant. Finally, we managed to capture it on Sunday afternoon,” informed Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Tezu, Millo Tasser.
A 12-member team from Karnataka travelled to Arunachal Pradesh to execute the operation in collaboration with the state’s environment, forest and climate change department.
The expert team from the Karnataka state forest department is headed by Dr Ramesha H, senior veterinary officer and elephant in-charge, associated with Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Nagarhole tiger reserve, and Bandipur National Park & Tiger Reserve under the Government of Karnataka.
The team is using technical equipment, including specialised AI-enabled thermal forestry drones and other advanced tools brought from the Bandipur and Nagarhole tiger reserves in Karnataka.
“A national-level operation is being conducted by a world-class team. The team is being assisted by the NTCA/MoEFCC, New Delhi, and the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun,” said Damodhar, conservator of forests (wildlife).
Meanwhile, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Wangki Lowang hailed all officials involved in capturing the rogue elephants and thanked the state government, particularly Chief Minister Pema Khandu, for facilitating the deployment of the expert team from Karnataka.
Tezu-Sunpura MLA Dr Mohesh Chai also took to Facebook to thank everyone involved in the operation,and expressed hope that the people of Sunpura can now live in peace.
The same team will now move to Mayudia in Lower Dibang Valley district with a mission to capture the tiger responsible for killing police officer Chikseng Manpang in February this year.
