A man and a woman died in a chance encounter with an elephant when a herd of pachyderms entered farms in Panjheri and Jiyapota areas of Haridwar on Saturday. The irate villagers locked the divisional forest officer Akash Verma and his team in a room when they reached the site. The officials were released after the intervention of Haridwar Rural MLA Swami Yateeshwaranand and Laksar MLA Sanjay Gupta.
A herd of four elephants is moving in the region since the past few days. The elephants had entered the farms but later three of the jumbos left towards the forest. While attempts were being made to shoo the fourth elephant into the jungle, the jumbo killed a man and injured a woman who later died in the hospital. The villagers were demanding compensation for the bereaved families, a job for a family member and concrete steps to prevent the elephants from entering the fields and residential localities.
The DFO said that the departmental personnel had been posted in the area registering frequent leopard sightings. Despite facing the dual challenges of averting human conflict with leopards and elephants, the department personnel are alert and doing the needful to ensure the safety of people, he said.