A herd of 22 jumbos created panic in two villages of Barkhatha and Chalkusha block of Hazaribagh district on Saturday night. The wild animals damaged three houses and crushed one person to death.
The villagers say that they could not sleep in the night due to their presence in the outer areas of their villages. The herd also damaged the houses and crops of Teiyo village. The jumbos ate the food which was kept for the kids in Anganbari Kendra of the village. The officials and staffs of forest department are trying hard to pull the herd out of their area with the help of villagers but tuskers are still roaming in the area.
On Saturday evening the villagers first saw a group of jumbos along with three kids in the forest areas of Barkhantha and Chalkusha blocks of Hazaribagh. The herd entered into the villages and created havoc in late night. In Teiyo village they destroyed the houses of Sumer Mahto and Budhan Mahto. The herd crumbled Jago Mahto of Teiyo village who died on spot.
The jumbos than entered in the villages of Chalkusha block and damaged the houses and crops in the field. The forest official assured to the victims to pay Rs 2.5 lakhs to every family. MlA Barkhatha Janki Yadav reached on the spot on Sunday morning and demanded compensation and government services to the kin of Jago Mahto.
The forest department sources said that when a herd enters in a specific forest area, the local forest officials only try to push them out of their area. Due to this tendency the herd spends one night in one area and other night in another area.