Rogue tusker dies of unknown reasons

The elephant died this afternoon on a hill top where it was kept tied after getting tranquilised by shots, official sources said.

DFO Arjun Behera, Sundergarh said the jumbo died this afternoon despite best efforts to save it.

"It is really tragic because the expert team from Nandankanan did its level best to save it, but it all went in vain, he said.

The male pachyderm was tranquilised with three shots on January 7 when a team of experts made it senseless. The tusker then fell sick and had recovered a little yesterday, officials said.

Before it was tranquilised, it had killed six persons since the night of December 25.