2 elephants, 7 people trampled and several villages on edge in Chhattisgarh
The latest incidents took place on Friday, around 11.30 pm, in Gamariya village.
The first incident took place around 7 am, when the tusker attacked a 55-year-old woman in Ralia village. Around 8 pm, it attacked another two women — Teej Kunar, 60, and Surja Bai, 40 — in Khairbhavna. In Khodri, it trampled to death five cattle. Several villages in north Chhattisgarh are on edge after two elephants trampled to death seven people in a span of days.
Four persons were trampled to death late Friday night by a wild elephant in Jashpur district. A day earlier, another wild elephant had trampled three persons to death in Korba district. Both animals are being tracked by forest teams to protect them as well as the villagers.
The latest incidents took place on Friday, around 11.30 pm, in Gamariya village. A woman and three men were trampled, with officials saying the elephant is moving aggressively and they are trying to ascertain why.
The elephant, officials said, is a loner and crossed a river to enter the villages. It has been on the move for the last eight days, moving across several places in the district from Tapkara, Kunkuri, Badalkhol to Bagicha.
On Thursday, another elephant had trampled three women to death in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district Thursday as it walked 150 km from neighbouring Raigarh district and spread panic in multiple villages.
Forest officials have brought in a kumki elephant – trained captive elephants – to redirect it back to the forests in Raigarh where it came from. A drone has also been deployed to track its movement.
The first incident took place at around 7 am, when the elephant, a sub-adult male tusker, attacked a 55-year-old woman in Ralia village. At around 8 pm, it attacked another two women – Teej Kunar, 60, and Surja Bai, 40 – in Khairbhavna village.
In Khodri village, it trampled five cattle to death.
All three villages are around five kilometres from Kusmunda coal mines, and fall in the Katghora division of Korba district. They are densely populated and it is for the first time that an elephant has entered these villages, a Forest official said.
Sources said the elephant is suspected to be in ‘musth’ – a state of heightened aggression.
Regarding the attacks, District Forest Officer Kumar Nishant told The Indian Express: “One of the women came out of her house and suddenly encountered the elephant. The other two women – both related – were inside their house, but panicked and ran out and found themselves in front of the elephant. The deaths were unfortunate. We keep making people aware that they must not leave their house.”
Forest officials have cut electricity in the area to protect the elephant.
According to officials, the elephant left Raigarh and walked over 150 km, touching three districts – Raigarh, Korba and Janjgir-Champa. Amid heavy rain on Friday night, the elephant is heading back to Raigarh, they said.
A large kumki elephant will be used to drive it towards the right direction.
“A kumki elephant from Achanakmar Tiger Reserve has been brought in a truck. At 6 am (Saturday), we will use it to redirect the wild elephant back to its home range. We will do this if the elephant loses its way again,” an official said.
At present, the elephant is being tracked using a drone, and a Forest team is alerting residents before it enters there.
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