M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Feb 6: A lone tusker has been wreaking havoc at village Chakla under the Chandwa block in the Latehar district.
The tusker, in itself, is vulnerable because they are usually killed by smugglers for their well-developed tusks that can fetch a good price in the black market along with their hides, hair, nails, bones, etc.
DC Latehar Abu Imran said some villagers whose houses and crops have been damaged by this lone tusker, will be compensated for their material losses. He said that he immediately forwarded their issue to the DFO Latehar for needful actions.
“The lone tusker has been terrorizing villagers of Chakla and its two hamlets Hraiya and Parouwa where people have been forced to spend sleepless nights,” Ayub Khan, a senior CPM leader of Chandwa said.
“The tusker has been wreaking havoc almost every night at around midnight since the past four days,” he added.
“Some families who have relatives outside Chakla village have moved out with bags and household items to stay safe. The villagers are worried about their lives, their houses, and their paddy, he further added.
The CPM leader said, ‘The elephant uses its tusks to create holes in the walls of houses to further push in its trunk to reach bags of paddy kept in rooms.’
Forest range officer Rakesh Kumar said, ‘The elephant is a tusker and we are keeping eyes on it, making sure it is safe.’ Ranger said the lone tusker appears to have been separated from the herd.
Pitchers of Mahua brew, which are invariably in every household in Hraiya and Parouwa hamlets may have attracted the tusker to come,’ opined the ranger.
“We along with the villagers are trying to shoo away this elephant,” he further added.
He said that the elephant has become extremely aggressive.
‘It once chased a forest personnel of the Chandwa range and the fellow narrowly escaped from the wrath of the tusker when he fell in a ditch and thus saved his life,’ recounted the ranger Rakesh Kumar.
