A herd of elephants killed a man in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district on Thursday night after a calf from their group was killed by a group of people in a neighbouring village on Thursday night, a forest official said on Friday.
Officials said that the incident took place in Katghora forest division.
Premlalata Yadav, the divisional forest officer, told media that a few days back the locals killed an elephant and buried the body in a field in Bania village under Pasan forest range. Subsequently, the elephants came to the village and went on a rampage.
“The herd of around 40 elephants to which the calf belonged entered the nearby Devmatti village in Jatga range on late Thursday night. The elephants trampled Pintawar Singh and his three cattle to death when he was in his cattle shed,” Yadav said.
A team of forest officials visited the Bania village after being tipped off about the calf’s killing.
“The team found that paddy had been planted freshly on the patch of land where the carcass was buried to cover up the killing. Forest personnel exhumed the carcass. The exact cause of death will be known after the autopsy report arrives,” she said.
The owner of the farm, where the calf was buried, was detained for questioning, the official said.
{{/usCountry}}The owner of the farm, where the calf was buried, was detained for questioning, the official said.
{{/usCountry}}The family of the man, who was killed by elephants, was provided an instant relief amount of ₹25,000 while the remaining compensation of ₹5.75 lakh will be given after fulfilling the formalities.
According to officials, the herd of elephants has damaged crops on 22 acres of land in three villages in the area in the last two days.