5 killed in elephant attack in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga in last 24 hours

Lohardaga district forest officer (DFO) Arvind Kumar said four out of the five were killed on Monday in Kashpur village under Bhandra block, while one was trampled to death near Kuru on Sunday evening

At least five people in two separate incidents were killed in an elephant attack in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district in the past 24 hours, forest officials said on Monday.

Forest officer said said it is almost certain that the same elephant is behind the five killings (Representative Photo)

Lohardaga district forest officer (DFO) Arvind Kumar said four out of the five were killed on Monday in Kashpur village under Bhandra block, while one was trampled to death by the jumbo near Kuru on Sunday evening.

“Three villagers were killed Monday morning while one was killed around 3pm in Kashpur,” added Kumar.

The officer said it is almost certain that the same elephant is behind all the five killings in the district since Sunday evening.

Kumar said, as per the preliminary findings, the elephant entered the Kuru area from Latehar district on Sunday and killed one person. It later entered the Bhandar area from there and attacked anyone who came in the way, he added.

“We are making efforts to drive the elephant towards the forest,” said Kumar.

The DFO said all bodies were sent for post-mortem examination, adding that an immediate relief of ₹25,000 each will be provided to the kins of the deceased.

Further, ₹3.75 lakh compensation to the kin of each of the victims will be provided after they are sanctioned as per the government procedures, the DFO said.

Kumar said that apart from one incident of an elephant attack that took place three years ago, there has not been a single such incident in Lohardaga since he was posted as the forest officer two years ago.

“People here are not habituated to dealing with elephants. They go close to the animal in their excitement,” Kumar said.

“However, we are making people aware not to disturb the animal and trying to drive it away in the forest,” Kumar added.