Elephant mowed down by Bihar-bound train

In a first of its kind incident of the Siliguri-Kathihar route, a male elephant was mowed down by a Bihar-bound train.

The incident occurred at around 4 am on Wednesday at Kiran Chandra Tea Estate near Naxalbari in Darjeeling district.

The elephant was crossing the tracks near the Deomani River on the Siliguri-Kathihar route when the speeding train is believed to have mowed it down. The elephant was also dragged to a distance.

Though pachyderm deaths are common on the New-Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar railway route which passes through forests, this is first of its kind incident on this route.

"It seems that the elephant was trying to cross the tracks and enter the Bangdubi forest when it was hit by the train. Though it cannot be ascertained for certain which train hit this 18-year-old elephant, it could have been a goods train" stated TT Bhutia, Range Officer, Bagdogra Range. Since 2004, 62 pachyderm deaths have been recorded in the NJP-Alipurduar railway route. The body was disposed of after conducting post mortem.