Elephantine extortion must stop

A  few days back, a picture in a  newspaper showed an elephant stopping a car and its snout next to the driver's window was reportedly asking for money. This might have frightened the passengers and the driver, which could lead to accident. This type of undesired and frightening way of compulsory extortion has to be immediately stopped. Or will the police, in turn say that they cannot find the elephant.

Such a manner of using an elephant to collect money by stopping cars and traffic on the road must be immediately prevented for safety reasons. The owner must be reprimanded and the elephant should be taken in by police and given to the zoo. If some one wants to have a pet elephant then it must be restricted to the owner's premises, and not roam about and disturb pedestrians and traffic.

This creates a public nuisance, and an unnecessary traffic hazard. The police should ensure that such incidents are not repeated.

S A Mansoor

Dhaka