A 375-strong force drawn from the police and the army launched raids on Monday morning in four tambons in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, and Kaeng Krachan district, Phetchaburi province, Pol Lt Gen Harnpol Nitwibul, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 7, said.
The team searched 111 locations, seizing 82 .22 rifles, eight long-barrel shotguns, and several hand-held hunting weapons.
Pol Lt Gen Harnpol said the investigation team contacted the local registry offices and obtained a list of potential suspects based on the information provided by investigators.
The police say the elephant was killed either by poachers, farmers or local hunters. The weapon used was possibly a CZ .22LR rifle.
The seized firearms will be tested to determine whether bullets found in the elephant's carcass were fired from any of these weapons. Investigators will also take DNA samples from hand-held weapons as evidence.
The gathered evidence will be archived and could be used for other investigations in the future, Pol Lt Gen Harnpol said.
The female elephant, aged 7-10 years, was found dead near a creek in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province on March 8. The elephant had several wounds, including four bullet holes in its hide.
Investigators suspect poachers killed the elephant and took away its calf for sale to a client. But an extensive search has failed to find the calf or the poachers.
Other possibilities are that the elephant was shot by farmers angry because the animal destroyed their crops, or that local hunters shot the elephant in self-defence, police said.
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