Gariaband:  A tragic incident unfolds on Sunday when an elephant calf was injured in a suspected country-made bomb explosion in Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR) in Chhattisgarh ‘s Gariaband district, a forest official said on Sunday.

Deputy Director of USTR, Varun Jain, said that the calf is part of a herd of 38-40 elephants currently roaming in the Satlor area of the Sitanadi forest range.

On November 7, forest officials were alerted about heavy blood stains in an area where the elephant herd had been. Upon investigation, they discovered not only the blood stains but also fragments of a potash bomb scattered at the site, he said.

The very next day, an anti-poaching team and a dog squad were deployed in the forest to find the injured wild animal. On Sunday, forest personnel located the injured calf by deploying a drone. The drone visuals showed the jaw of the calf, aged 5-6 years, is swollen and injuries in its leg, he said.

Prima facie, the calf was injured when it tried to eat the potash bomb which exploded, the forest officer said.

However, it was yet to be ascertained whether the bomb was planted by poachers to target elephants or wild boars, he added.

The medical treatment of the injured calf will be started by veterinarians from Monday, he said.

Initially, we will try to treat the calf by providing medicine-laced food, but if the injuries are found to be serious, we will tranquilise the calf and shift it to a camp for around a month, he said.

Meanwhile, the forest department has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person (s) who had planted the bomb. A complaint has also been lodged at the local police station, he added.

(with agency input)