Wild Elephant Tramples Man To Death In Chhattisgarh

A 50-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district on Sunday, taking the count of such fatalities in the state to 11 so far this month, a forest official said.

The incident took place at around 2 am at Badma village under Pratappur forest range, he said.

As per the preliminary information, there was a folk dance programme in the village and after watching the event, the victim, identified as Veersai Paikra, was going to drop a girl of his village to her home when the incident happened, he said.

"They came face-to-face with a jumbo, following which the girl managed to escape from the spot, while the elephant caught hold of the man and crushed him to death," he said.

The family of the victim were provided an immediate aid of Rs 25,000 each, while the remaining compensation will be disbursed on completion of necessary formalities, officials said.

With this, 11 people have been killed in elephant attacks in the state so far this month, they said.

As per the government records, 204 people were killed in elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh between 2018 and 2020, while 45 jumbos have died during the same period in the state.

According to officials, movement of at least 307 elephants in 16 herds has been recently reported from different parts of the state, especially Surajpur, Raigarh, Mahasamund, Korba, Balrampur, Jashpur, Gariaband, Balod districts.

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