- Narendra Kumar Shukla filed a complaint about his stolen elephant, Jayamati, in Jharkhand
- Jayamati was traced to Chhapra, Bihar, where Gorakh Singh claimed to have bought her for Rs 27 lakh
- All parties have now been asked to produce documents to support their claim on the elephant
An elephant never forgets, but this is the story of an elephant who won't be forgotten. Jayamati, a female elephant, is at the centre of a bizarre tale spanning three states -- Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. The investigation, which started with a complaint about an elephant theft, has revealed shocking details.
About two weeks back, Narendra Kumar Shukla, a resident of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, filed an unusual police complaint in Jharkhand's Palamu district. He alleged that his elephant, Jayamati, was stolen while it was being taken from Jharkhand's Ranchi to Jaunpur. Shukla blamed the mahout for the elephant's theft.
Mr Shukla said he had bought the elephant to continue a family tradition of keeping elephants. The elephant and its mahout went missing from Palamu's Jorkat sometime in mid-August, Shukla said in his complaint. Jayamati was eventually tracked down to Chhapra in Bihar, where she was with one Gorakh Singh. Singh said he bought the elephant for Rs 27 lakh, and police initially suspected that the mahout hatched the plan to sell off the elephant.
Then a shocking detail emerged. Police found that Shukla did not purchase the elephant alone. Reeshma Ramesan, Palamu police chief, said their investigation revealed that Shukla and three others bought the elephant for Rs 40 lakh. "Shukla initially presented the issue as a theft, and that it was worth nearly Rs 1 crore. We registered a case of cheating. However, when we traced the elephant in Chhapra on Monday, further facts emerged," she said, according to a report in The Indian Express.
"It came to light that the elephant was not under the sole ownership of the complainant, but had actually been bought jointly by four partners. But three partners had executed an agreement and sold the elephant to the man in Chhapra for Rs 27 lakh," the senior police officer said, unveiling the twist in the tale.
According to multiple reports, Gorakh Singh has presented valid documents for the purchase of the elephant. The elephant is now with Gorakh Singh on a custody bond, and the police have asked all parties to produce relevant documents on Monday. "Only after verifying these documents can we establish the actual legal ownership," she said.
