KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, Oct 26: An elderly man was trampled to death by a migratory elephant at a village under the Chakulia block area in the Ghatsila sub-division of the East Singhbhum district, about 80 km away from here in the dawn today.
A resident of Shakabhanga village in Chandanpur panchayat of Chakulia, the victim, Sukra Munda (62) was going to meet nature’s call at about 4 am when the tusker trampled him to death.
Soon after the daybreak, the information about the man’s trampling death spread like a wildfire, triggering anger among the people of Shakabhanga and adjoining villages where migratory elephants from Bengal have been destructing crops for the past few weeks.
Forest range officer Chakulia, Digvijay Singh confirmed the trampling death of an elderly man at the dawn.
“We have time and again told the villagers not to venture out of their homes until daybreak as a herd of 13 migratory elephants is in the Chakulia range area. Despite the warnings, Sukra Munda came out of his home and fell victim to the wild elephant,” said Singh while talking to lagatar24.com.
He stated that the forest department paid Rs 25,000 as a part of the compensation amount of Rs 4 lakhs to the widow of the victim by noon.
The range officer, when queried, said initially the herd was anchored in the Chakulia jungle having crossed over to Jharkhand from the Bengal in October’s first week.
“But the herd has fragmented and has spread over the entire Chakulia range, depending on the availability of food and water. Concerned with the presence of the migratory tuskers here, we had first pressed the Quick Response Team into service and subsequently brought in a team of mahouts from the Bankura district of Bengal for driving the elephants either back to the neighbouring state or Dalma hills, but we have not been a success in our effort, ” said the range officer.
Singh said the protection of human life from the migratory elephants is our priority and with the help of the mahouts’ team from Bengal the villagers’ life was safe so far.
“But about a dozen mahouts who had been here since the past fortnight returned to their native place on two days leave for celebrating Kalipuja, one of the villagers was killed,” said the range officer, adding that the department has asked the mahouts to return to Chakulia as soon as possible.
