Rajlokkhi the elephant dies in Sreemangal after eight days of suffering

Rajlokkhi the elephant has died from a possible spine injury after suffering for eight days.

A man who had rented the working elephant dumped her near a bridge on the Sreemangal-Moulvibazar road last Friday. 

She died in Sreemangal around 10am while under the care of Arifur Rahman, a veterinary surgeon of the Department of Livestock Services.

Rajlokkhi may have died from a spine injury, said Rahman, who was treating her with the help of specialists from Bangladesh National Zoo and Chittagong's Dulahazra Safari Park.

A three-member team from the livestock department in Moulvibazar will conduct her autopsy. She had stopped eating from Wednesday, and was put on saline after collapsing on Friday.

Several months ago, Rajlokkhi's owner Sirajul Islam rented her to one Kajal Khan of Brahmanbaria under a one-year contract. Islam said his family has been rearing elephants for several generations. 

“He (Kajal) used her for circus acts, weddings, for uprooting trees, and processions in Brahmanbaria,” said Islam, from Kamalganj Upazila.

"Then two months ago Kajal said there was a shortage of food in Brahmanbaria and asked me to keep her with me. I agreed to take her back.

“He then called me last Friday after leaving Rajlokkhi near a bridge on the Sreemangal-Moulvibazar road. He was taking her to Kamalganj on a truck,” he said.

"But I'm not sure why he tried to get her down in that place. Rajlokkhi must have gotten hurt while working for him, which is probably why he tried to return her."

Islam, whose family owns another elephant, said he will file a general diary with the police.

Rajlokkhi was his main source of income, Islam told bdnews24.com.