3 of family, neighbour trampled to death by wild elephant in C’garh: Officials
Jitendra Upadhyay, divisional forest officer (DFO) Jashpur division, said that the elephant entered the Bagicha Nagar Panchayat at midnight on Friday and strayed into the village
Raipur: At least four people, including three of a family, were killed after they came under attack from a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur, officials aware of the incident said.
The latest incident brings the total number of fatalities due to elephant attacks in the district to nine in the past month.
Officials said that the incident took place in the Gamhriya area of Bagicha Nagar Panchayat on the intervening night of Friday.
The victims were sleeping in their homes when they came under attack. The deceased have been identified as Ramkeshwar Soni (35), his daughter Ravita (9), his brother Ajay (25), and their neighbour, Ashwin Kujur (28).
Jitendra Upadhyay, divisional forest officer (DFO) Jashpur division, said that the elephant entered the Bagicha Nagar Panchayat at midnight on Friday and strayed into the village.
Subsequently, the wild animal damaged the wall of Soni’s house before trampling the trio to death. When his neighbour Kujur heard their screams and rushed to the scene, he was also trampled.
“We were not aware of the elephant entry in our village, and there was no power supply….The elephant damaged the house and killed three people. The villagers raised an alarm, after which the elephant went into the jungle”, said a resident of the village.
Officials said that forest and police personnel reached the incident spot after being informed and retrieved four bodies in the morning and sent them for post-mortem. The families of the deceased have been provided with an immediate relief amount of Rs.25,000, with an additional Rs.5.75 lakh to be given after completing necessary formalities, said officials.
“The forest department has been monitoring the movement of the tusker, which has been causing damage to houses in the area, and plans to relocate it to another location,” the DFO said.
Human-elephant conflict is a growing concern in Chhattisgarh, with the state reporting 104 human deaths and 243 crop damage cases due to elephant attacks in 2022 alone.
In the last one week, eight people have allegedly been killed by wild elephants in Chhattisgarh.