Rogue wild elephant kills 13 in two days in Jharkhand villages

Chaibasa: An elephant killed 13 people in two days in separate attacks in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, creating panic in the region, a senior forest official said on Wednesday.

Four others were also injured in the attack by the jumbo, Chaibasa Divisional Forest Officer Aditya Narayan told news agency.

The tusker, which had attacked several people in the last few days, entered the Noamundi and Hatgamariah police station areas late on Tuesday and trampled the six people to death, including four members of a family, he said.

The same pachyderm claimed the lives of seven people, including three members of a family in the Kolhan region on the previous day, Narayan said.

Teams of forest officials with experts from West Bengal’s Bankura district have been engaged to drive away the elephant back to the forest, the official said.

Meanwhile, six pairs of trains in the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway have been cancelled in the area due to the movement of elephants, a railway official said.

Officials said that the rogue elephant has triggered panic in the region.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and former chief minister Madhu Koda criticised the forest department for allegedly failing to initiate concrete measures to find out a lasting solution to the menace.

Koda, who visited the families of the victims in a village in Nomaundi during the day, claimed that the department used to distribute articles such as torches and

firecrackers to members of the Gram Samity to drive away herds of elephants entering villages, but the practice has been stopped now.

He also demanded that the government rehabilitate the minor children, who became orphans due to elephant attacks, and bear the expenses of their education.