M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Feb 12: A lone adult tusker trampled a 45-year-old woman to death under the Chandwa block in Latehar district last night. Chandwa forest ranger Rakesh Kumar has confirmed this casualty.
The woman has been identified as Jaruwa Devi of Talaiya Damar village. Sources said the woman did try to escape but in vain.
The tusker has been on the rampage in Chandwa police station over the last week. It has destroyed more than half a dozen houses there. This is the first loss of life caused by the tusker.
CPM leader Ayub Khan said that the DFO Latehar Roshan Kumar and his team had visited the villages where this tusker had left a trail of miseries and destruction only a couple of days ago.
Khan said the DFO had assured people of relief from the tusker and had promised to shoe him away but it was all in vain.
The CPM leader has accused the forest officials of their lackadaisical attitude towards the plight of the poor people who have a nightmare of the tusker.
Chandwa ranger Rakesh Kumar said the next of kin of the deceased would be given Rs. 40,000 as immediate ex-gratia relief.
The remaining amount (Rs.3.60 lakh) will come after all related formalities are completed like post mortem, post mortem report, death certificate, etc.
In a similar development, another male adult elephant which is not a tusker is on the rampage at two villages Pokhri Khurd and Akhra under the Betla National Park range of the Palamu Tiger Reserve.
Deputy Director (North division) of the PTR Kumar Ashish said this male adult elephant is raiding houses in search of food like paddy.
He said the elephant makes holes in the walls of the houses to access food. “This elephant looks eternally hungry as it is on the lookout for food stored in the houses of the people.”
“We believe this male elephant is not from PTR as the elephants here are not that hungry.”
Concerning losses of standing crops in the field, Ashish stated that the male elephant has not damaged the standing crop in the field as such, but that when it negotiates the field where the standing crop is present, damages are unavoidable.
Unlike the angry and belligerent tusker on the loose in the Chandwa police station area, this male elephant in Betla has been non-violent so far, but no one knows when the Gajraj’s temperament would change, according to sources.
“Our Betla range officials are in close touch with the victims and other villagers,” said Ashish.
“Our quick response team is also up all night to rush to the villagers if any distress call regarding elephant movement or destruction comes,” he added.
