15 people killed by one rogue jumbo in fortnight: J’khand forest dept panel

Ranchi: An five-member panel set up by the Jharkhand forest department to look into the recent cases of elephant attacks has filed a report stating that one rogue pachyderm has trampled 15 to death in a fortnight, besides wreaking havoc in five districts, an official said

The panel, chaired by Ranchi conservator of forest (CF) P Rajendra Naidu, has recommended that the pachyderm be tranquilised and captured.

Naidu said, “The panel, after a thorough inquiry, has confirmed that one elephant has killed 15 people and injured four others in the past fortnight. Three deaths were reported from Hazaribag, one from Chatra, two from Latehar, five in Lohardaga and four in Ranchi.”

He explained that the committee had employed multiple methods to arrive at the conclusion.

“We have our internal tracking system, under which every district reports about the movement of elephants in their respective areas. The movement of this particular elephant was monitored for days. Videos and photographs collected from the districts were also matched,” he said.