A herd of elephants trampled a 35 years old man to death in Baligarh village of Ramkanda police station area of the district, on Sunday night. The deceased is identified as 35-year-old Nageshwar Singh.
Before this incident herd of wild tuskers damaged the Mission School (Ipil Madhya Vidyalaya) and Prabhu Korwa's house in Gobardaha village. After this, about 30-35 elephants reached in Baligarh village when the villagers were trying to drive away the elephants wrapped Nageshwar Singh of the village in their trunks and then trampled him to death. He died on the spot.
During this, the deceased's brother Indrajit Singh, who was standing nearby, ran away and saved his life. The villagers, who were scared all night, somehow brought the deceased person's body home from the edge of the forest.
Indrajit Singh, brother of the deceased, said that a herd of elephants from Gobardaha reached in Baligarh, his village, at around 10 pm. On hearing the sound of elephants trampling corn crops and trumpeting, hundreds of villagers started trying to chase the elephants away by ringing tins and plates and lighting torches (lukwari). Hearing the noise of the villagers and seeing the torches, the herd of elephants left the fields and started running rapidly towards the forest. After a while, the elephants went to the edge of the forest and started scattering here and there.
Seeing the herd of elephants dispersing at the edge of the forest, the villagers started returning. Meanwhile, some elephants that had separated from the herd turned back and pounced on the villagers. Meanwhile, an elephant started throwing Nageshwar Singh by wrapping him in its trunk. He said that seeing this, the villagers lost their courage. Here the torch had also burned out. In such a situation, his brother died in front of his eyes.
On receiving the information, Forest Area Officer Ramratan Pandey and Mukhiya Vinod Prasad reached the village and gave Rs 10,000 in cash to the family of the deceased for cremation.
When contacted the DFO(South) AB Abraham confirmed the news and said that a herd of around 35 to 40 elephants roaming in South east forest Range villages and damages the crops and some mud houses .
Under precautionary steps, the department has provided kerosene for torches and spices and is spreading awareness among the villagers in the areas and in the areas where elephants are trying to escape. People are being told not to use crackers to stop elephants from using crackers. Due to the use of crackers, elephants get separated from the herd and cause harm.
