Wild Elephant Causes Chaos In Chhattisgarh, Kills Man, Damages Houses

A 55-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, forest department officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place in Dumardand village under Narayanpur police station limits on late Wednesday night, they said.

As per preliminary information, a tusker got separated from its herd and entered the village and started damaging mud houses. Sensing trouble with the presence of the pachyderm, the victim, identified as Jagarnath, shifted other family members to a safe place, an official said.

However, the 55-year-old villager himself could not escape in time. The wild tusker caught hold of him with its trunk and trampled him to death, he said.

After being alerted, forest department personnel reached the spot and sent the body for post- mortem.

The elephant damaged 10 to 12 kutcha houses (non-cemented, un-bricked) in the village, he said.

The family of those killed have been provided an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000, the official said.

Human-elephant conflicts in the state, particularly in its northern part, had been a major cause of concern for the last one decade. The main districts facing the menace are Surguja, Jashpur, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur and Balrampur.

According to the forest department, more than 300 people have been killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years.

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