Jumbo kills five in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district in 24 hours
An officer said it’s almost certain that the same elephant is behind the five deaths in the district since Sunday evening.
RANCHI: Five people, including three women, were trampled to death by an elephant in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district, forest officials said on Monday.
“Four people were killed by the elephant on Monday in Kashpur village under Bhandra block, while one person was trampled to death near Kuru on Sunday evening,” Lohardaga district forest officer (DFO) Arvind Kumar said.
Kashpur village, which is located around 20 kilometres from Lohardaga headquarter, has around 20 houses with a population of over 100 residents.
The officer said it’s almost certain that the same elephant is behind the five deaths in the district since Sunday evening.
“As per the preliminary findings, this elephant entered the Kuru area from the Latehar district on Sunday and killed one person near Kuru. It entered the Bhandar area from there and is attacking any person coming near it. On Monday, those who were killed were from the same village. Efforts are on to drive the elephant towards the forest,” said Kumar.
The DFO said all bodies have been sent for an autopsy and an immediate relief of ₹25,000 each will be given to the kin of the deceased on Monday. The rest ₹3.75 lakh compensation to the kin of each of the victims will be provided after they are sanctioned as per the government procedures, he said.
The official said that there has not been a regular movement of elephants in the Bhandra and Kuru areas.
“It’s been two years since I am posted here and there has been no such incident since then. There was one isolated incident around three years back in Lohardaga. Therefore, people here are not habituated to dealing with elephants,” Kumar said.
According to sources in the district administration, a team of officials, including circle officer Dinesh Gupta, magistrate Amit Kumar Besra, state disaster management officer Vibhakar Kumar besides forest department officials, are camping near Kashpur village.
Lohardaga legislator and Jharkhand finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, who was in his constituency on Monday, visited the area and met the affected families. Oraon said a specialized team from Bankura in West Bengal has been summoned for assistance.
“Most of the villagers have left their homes out of fear. We are providing them all the required help. The team from Bankura is likely to arrive soon. They would start their operation with local officials to drive the elephant away from the village,” Oraon said.