RAJESH KUMAR PANDEY
Godda, Nov.1: A wild elephant which has been separated from the herd for the last few years continues to wreak havoc in parts of Santhal Pargana. A 27 years old youth belonging to the primitive tribe ‘Pahadiya’ is the latest victim of this elephant’s attack.
Chandrashekhar Pahadiya of Kerabani village under Sundarpahadi police station of Godda district was attacked by the elephant causing him serious injuries when he was away from home to attend nature’s call early morning on Monday.
Reports said that the animal emerged suddenly from a roadside bush and lifted the victim on its trunk from behind before throwing him on the ground and crushing his abdomen.
The terrified villagers somehow drove away the elephant to another village and called 108 for an ambulance. The victim was rushed to the Sundarpahadi based community health centre (CHC) from where he was further referred to Godda Sadar Hospital. His condition is reported to be critical.
The elephant has sneaked into Godda district on Saturday itself after being driven away from Dumka and Jamtara district where three people were trampled to death in the last one week apart from damaging houses and standing crops of the villagers.
Earlier, the same elephant demolished the walks of a household in Susni village under Sundarpahadi police station itself and ate whatever food grains were available there.
DFO of Godda, P R Naidu, said that a team of experts from Bankura (Bengal) was summoned to drive away the elephant so that it could join its herd.
According to a rough estimate, the same elephant has so far killed over a dozen villagers in different districts of Santhal Pargana during the last couple of years. But the forest officials wash off their hands by simply driving away the animal from the respective districts of their jurisdiction sans any permanent solution to get rid of the menace of human and tusker conflict.
