With the Assembly elections approaching, the Human-Elephant conflict is likely to become a prominent issue in eastern Maharashtra. A tusker named CME3, born in Chhattisgarh is believed to have been involved in the deaths of five individuals across Maharashtra, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh over the past two years. Recently, the elephant re-entered Maharashtra, leading to a tragic incident in which 25-year-old Shashikant Satre from Gadchiroli lost his life.

Sagnik Sengupta, co-founder of the NGO Stripes and Green Earth Foundation, confirmed that the tusker entered Maharashtra four to five days ago. "The tusker is currently in Allapalli and may head south into Telangana. The need of the hour is that the forest department should monitor the tusker's movements closely to avoid further incidents," Sagnik Sengupta said.