(IN) Killer elephant 'Osama' dies in hail of bullets

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Killer elephant 'Osama' dies in hail of bullets

Animal linked to 11 deaths terrorized villagers across two Indian states

MSNBC News Services

updated 1:35 a.m. PT, Sat., May. 31, 2008

PATNA, India - An elephant nicknamed " Osama bin Laden " that killed at

least 11 people and injured dozens has been shot dead, officials in

eastern India said on Saturday.

The wild male elephant had been terrorizing villagers in two states

in recent months, destroying their crops and homes.

 

Forest officials and a police team tracked down the rogue jumbo in

the eastern state of Jharkhand late on Friday, where it was shot

dead, senior government official Ravi Ranjan said.

 

" Yes, Osama has finally been killed and it took us 20 bullets to

silence him, " Ranjan told Reuters from Jharkhand on Saturday.

 

Deadly rampage

Hundreds of villagers gathered on Saturday to catch a glimpse of the

dead elephant.

On Thursday, another elephant rampaged through a village in northern

India, killing at least seven people and injuring 24 others before it

was killed.

 

The female entered the village of Bhudaheda on the edge of the Jim

Corbett National Park, and began destroying crops, said Srikant

Chandola, the park's chief wildlife officer. He said the animal

started trampling people when residents tried to frighten it away by

beating drums.

Belinda Wright, director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India,

said the elephant had apparently entered the village after becoming

separated from its herd.

 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24901077/