A twin tragedy disturbed Palamau Tiger Reserve on Friday. A man was killed by an elephant while decomposed body of an elephant was too found. In the first incident, an elephant crushed a 50-year-old man namely Mumrik Bhuiyan to death in Kuchila.
His body was found on Friday afternoon. The elephant had caused him death on the night of October 11 but his body could be traced only late on Friday . The deceased was returning home last night from railway station Chhipadohar when the elephant trampled him to death. It was not known immediately if the deceased was alone or was with anybody elese at the time of this incident.
The field director of the Palamu Tiger Reserve SEH Kazmi has confirmed this death of one villager by elephant. The PTR officials have doled out ex gratia relief of rupees 10,000 to the bereaved family of the dalit Mumrik Bhuiyan said the field director PTR. In other episode body of a badly decomposed elephant was found in compartment II of the national Park Betla. The elephant was killed about three weeks back said sources.
The body was in such a bad condition that it could not be be ascertained that is difficult to ascertain, if the dead one was a tusker or a tuskless elephant. The field director PTR Kazmi has confirmed the recovery of the body. He admitted that it is a matter of deep concern as to how such a fleet of PTR ground staff could not know about this casualty of elephant for all these days spanning three weeks or so. He could not answer as to whose lapse it was but admitted the monitoring and management of wildlife has touched the lowest ebb as none of the staff in this intervening period had any knowledge of it.