Suspects further remanded in killing blind wild elephant

Anuradhapura Additional Magistrate Sanduni Hapuarachchi ordered three suspects to remain in custody until January 8 for the alleged killing of a visually impaired wild elephant using flaming torches.

The suspects, residents of the Seeppukulama Ambagahawela junction in the Mihintale police area, include J.M. Sisira Senadheera, J.M. Prasanta Chalinda Kumara, and J.M. Wasantha Wijaya Kumara.

State Counsel Kalana Kothalawala, representing the Department of Wildlife Conservation, informed the court that the university student who filmed the act faced intimidation from the suspects' associates.

This pressure reportedly led to the deletion of the original video footage. Consequently, the State Counsel requested that the student's mobile phone be sent to the Government Analyst to recover the evidence.

The prosecution noted that additional suspects are linked to the crime and argued that granting bail could obstruct their arrest and interfere with ongoing investigations.

Police have already recovered the torches used to burn the elephant as case exhibits.

The post-mortem report confirmed that the elephant died due to internal organ tissue damage caused by shock following the burns.

While defence counsel Ranjith Rajakaruna argued for bail based on the presumption of innocence, the magistrate maintained the remand order given the severity of the investigation.