'Laden' falls to his hunters' shot finally

Guwahati, Dec 17 (UNI) The ever-elusive 'Laden' finally fell to his hunters in Asom after evading them for the past three years.

Laden, an Asiatic elephant, was declared a rogue, with a death warrant on his head for killing at least 14 people since 2003. The 10-ft tuskless elephant was shot dead yesterday after a prolonged search.

A wildlife official said the elephant was killed by licensed hunter Dipen Ram Phukan and a team of forest rangers at the Behali tea plantation in Sonitpur district.

Laden, named after the dreaded Al-Qaeda chief by the local villagers, was declared a rogue elephant in June, 2003, after he had killed five people.

However, the pachyderm eluded his hunters and by 2005, had killed about 13 people.

The killing of four persons of a family by one of a herd of nine elephants on the night of November 19 last had prompted the massive hunt for Laden. Laden was also reported to have killed a woman in a reserved forest area last week.

Experts and conservationists have, however, questioned the proper identification of the killer elephant 'Laden' with the one shot dead. They maintained that it was not possible to recognise the features of a marauding elephant at night with certainty.

However, the killing of Laden has brought relief for the villagers of the area.

In Asom, the last time an elephant was declared a rogue and killed by a licensed hunter was in 2004. During the past fortnight, herds of wild elephants had been terrorising several parts of the state.

Elephants have killed 248 people in Asom in the past five years, while 268 elephants have died during the same period, many falling victims to retaliation by angry humans.

Asom has India's largest population of Asiatic elephants, estimated at 5,300, according to a wildlife census in 2002.

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