Wild elephant tramples five to death in Bihar’s Supaul district

The elephant stormed into the Jahalipatti village next and attacked a house, resulting in the death of 55-year-old Chania Devi. Later, the wild animal reached Koriapatti village and trampled to death 45-year-old Ranjit Shah.

Five people were trampled to death by a wild elephant across several villages in Supaul district on Wednesday and Thursday.

The elephant also damaged several houses and crops in villages in the Birpur, Karjain and Pipra police station areas. (HT)

The police said a herd of wild elephants entered the Raghopur police station area from Nepal. One of the elephants from the herd was separated, after which the herd went on a rampage.

The first incident occurred at Karjain police station area on Wednesday evening. Yogeshwar, a resident of Chhint-Motipur, was trampled to death when he had gone to his agricultural field to irrigate his crops.

The elephant stormed into the Jahalipatti village next and attacked a house, resulting in the death of 55-year-old Chania Devi. Later, the wild animal reached Koriapatti village and trampled to death 45-year-old Ranjit Shah.

The tusker’s rampage continued as it attacked two more people in Dharmpatti and Chowhatta villages on Thursday morning. Mohammad Jabbar of Dharmpatti was injured by the elephant and was admitted to a hospital in Darbhanga, where he succumbed to his injuries. Shyam Lal Kamat of Chowhatta was crushed to death while escaping the attack.

The elephant also damaged several houses and crops in villages in the Birpur, Karjain and Pipra police station areas.

After wreaking havoc for nearly eight hours, the elephant was chased away by police, forest guards and villagers and pushed back to Ratanpura in Nepal. Teams from forest departments of Patna and Purnia will camp in the district for the next few days, in case the herd comes back.

Mahendra Kumar, Supaul’s district magistrate, said that forest and administration officials handed over compensation cheques of ₹5 lakh each to the victims’ families.

Man-animal conflict is common along the Indo-Nepal border and stray elephants enter populated areas often, resulting in extensive damage. It is particularly difficult to spot wild elephants at night as they hide in forest areas and people in surrounding villages often come in contact with them accidentally.