A herd of about 22 elephants is on rampage in different villages of Barkagaon, Keradari and Churchu blocks of the district in the last 2 days. On Thursday night the jumbos killed one person in the Napo village of Barkagaon block. They have damaged the three dozen houses in a night and ate all the food grains in the house, which was kept by the villagers for the future. On Friday night the same group of jumbos had reached the villages of keradari and damaged the houses last night. All the villagers vacated the houses and assembled in the ground. They spent their night in the open places this winter.
After a gap of about 6-7 months the herd of jumbos has entered in the villages of Churchu block of Hazaribagh district and has started creating panic among the villagers. They have damaged the mud houses of the villages. All the villagers started the shouting but no effect was made on the jumbos and they entered in the field and damaged the all crops of the fields. The angry herd started to chase the villagers and entered the village. A kid who was with the villagers left behind during this chase and the jumbos brutally crushed him with their feet. In the village the herd destroyed the building of primary school and ate all the food grains stored there for midday meal.
After getting the information the local administrative officers and staff of the forest department have visited the villages and assured the villagers that they will take every step to remove the herd from this area.
The administration has given assurances to the jumbo victims to take immediate steps for the safe removal of the herd from the district and compensation to the affected villagers .