Elephant, calf trample three persons including 3-yr-old to death in Chhattisgarh

Forest officials said both incidents occurred in the Lailunga forest range, under the Dharamjaigarh forest division

RAIPUR: A wild elephant and her calf in the Lailunga forest range on Tuesday evening went on a rampage and trampled to death three persons including a three-year-old child, in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, forest officials said on Wednesday.

A female elephant and her calf at elephant camp in Kaziranga National Park. (FILE IMAGE)

Forest officials said the elephants first strayed into Gosaidih village in the Anglikala area, where they destroyed several houses, killing three-year-old Satyam Rawat. The two then moved towards Mohanpur village a few kilometres away, where they trampled to death Santara Bai Rathiya (46) and Purushottam Khadia (48).

Both incidents occurred in the Lailunga forest range, under the Dharamjaigarh forest division.

Divisional forest officer Jitendra Upadhyay said that forest personnel rushed to the villages and shifted the bodies. The families of the deceased were given immediate financial aid of ₹25,000 each.

He added that teams were tracking the movement of the elephants and alerting villagers to prevent further loss of life.

Northern Chhattisgarh has witnessed frequent human-elephant conflicts over the past decade.

According to forest department data, more than 320 people have died in such incidents over the last five years, particularly in districts such as Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, and Balrampur.