Captive elephant rescued from Tripura border village released into reserve forest

Agartala: The state wildlife officials on Monday released a captive elephant, which was rescued from a village in Unakoti district along the India-Bangladesh border five days ago, into the wild.
The officials said its owner could not be traced despite several people claiming its possession. Finally, it was released into the elephant reserve forest in Atharamura hill in Khowai district.
A cross-border elephant smuggling racket has reportedly been active in the bordering areas of Unakoti for years.Its members allegedly indulge in the sale of elephants from Bangladesh to India through their chain in Kailashahar. It is suspected that this elephant was smuggled to India. The villagers informed police about the elephant, which bore several injury marks, when it started ravaging their fields and rubber plantations at Chagoldema.