Mizoram begins probe into 'feast' on jumbo meat

AIZAWL: The Mizoram department of environment, forest and climate change has appointed the divisional forest officer (DFO) of Kawrthah Forest Division to conduct an inquiry into allegations that villagers from Kanhmun feasted on the meat of a dead elephant earlier this month, a senior department official said on Monday. The DFO, who will also look into the reasons behind the 47-year-old jumbo's death, has been asked to submit his report in five days.
"An elephant, taken on lease from Assam in 2009, died in Mizoram a few days ago and villagers from Kanhmun in Mamit district near the Mizoram-Tripura border reportedly cut up its body and ate the meat," the official said. One Mohammad Mastafa Ahmed Laskar of Cachar district in Assam had leased 'Lakshmi' to a villager in Kanhmun in 2009.