SKIRMISHER

Townsfolk in northeast India shot to death Osama bin Laden — not that sweet-smelling, Whitney Houston-loving terrorist, but an elephant so-named for killing 27 people.

A forestry official said on Sunday “Osama” had been shot dead on Saturday in a tea plantation on the outskirts of Behali town, about 90 miles north of Guwahati, Assam’s main city.

“The elephant was killed after villagers identified him,” a senior forestry official said, adding the animal could be identified because it had no tusks.

Despite efforts by local authorities to hunt him down, “Osama” had evaded them moving from place to place, hiding in forests and tea estates in the northern parts of Assam.

The hunt for “Osama”, believed to have been between 45 and 50 years old, came to a climax last week when Assam’s local assembly ordered a shoot-to-kill directive to forestry officials and a deadline to hunt the beast down by Dec. 31.

“The elephant has been killing people, destroying houses in villages in my constituency,” Ranjit Dutta, a MP from Behali. “He was not afraid of fire and even firecrackers.”

via MSNBC

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