VISHVENDU JAIPURIAR
Hazaribag, Feb 9: The wild elephant, which created a reign of terror in town by killing two elderly men, has now trampled a college student Twinkle Kumari (21) on Wednesday night in Sirka village at Hazaribag. The girl succumbed to her injuries soon after she was brought to Aarogyam hospital taking the death toll to three.
With officials leaving town residents at mercy of god, the elephant which the forest department said is young and around 10 years old, kept moving around the locality near Mailatand which is the dumping ground of Hazaribag municipal corporation.
With officials kept waiting for the elephant to come out from Mailatand, it finally walked towards the posh Yashwant Nagar colony on Barkagaon road on Wednesday night. The animal took to Sirka of the neighbouring Katkamdag block and reached Sirka where it caught a young girl Twinkle and left her grievously injured.
She was brought to a private hospital but seeing her critical condition, doctors advised relatives to take her to Ranchi.
However, she succumbed to her injuries.
By night, the report came that the elephant had walked close to Kusumbha forest crossing Dengura taking a safe distance from town. This forest is connected to Sultana on the Hazaribag-Chatra side and to Barkagaon leading to Tandwa of Chatra and Latehar.
However, officials said they are still clueless about where the elephant is right now. Even anger was seen against forest officials as people said no efforts were taken in advance to stop the elephant from rampaging.