Several human-elephant conflicts have been reported in the past from Chhattisgarh. (Representational)
A 27-year-old man was trampled to death by an elephant in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, forest officials said on Monday.
Notably, last month, 12 deaths due to elephant attacks were reported from different districts of the state.
The latest incident took place on Sunday in a forest near Dhondhagaon village under Sitapur forest range in Surguja, located about 150 km away from Korba and over 300 km from the state capital Raipur, divisional forest officer Pankaj Kamal said.
A jumbo attacked the victim, identified as Budhiyar Sai, when he went to the forest to collect wood. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital, the official said.
Two elephants entered the Sitapur forest range from Jashpur on Saturday night. While one of the tuskers stayed near Kendli Nullah, the other one reached the forest close to Dhondhagaon village by covering a distance of about 35 km, he said.
The forest department has given an immediate relief of Rs 25,000 to the victim's family and the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh will be released after completion of the required formalities, the official said.
A number of incidents of human-elephant conflict have been reported in the past from the thick forested northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Surajpur, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur, Balrampur and Korea districts.
The region has witnessed several killings of villagers and widespread damage to houses and crops by rogue elephants. As per government records, 204 people were killed in elephant attacks while 45 jumbos died in the state in the last three years (2018, 2019, 2020).
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