4 people killed in elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh; 3 held after jumbo dies of electrocution

Ambikapur/Korba: Four people, including a father-daughter duo, were killed after being attacked by wild elephants in separate incidents in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, forest department officials said on Friday.

These elephant attacks took place in the last two days.

In a separate incident, an elephant died of electrocution after it came in contact with a live wire illegally laid by three persons to operate a borewell in neighbouring Korba district, they said.

A woman, identified as Sanmet Bai, was trampled to death by an elephant which entered the premises of her house in Bakila village in Surguja district and attacked her on Wednesday (July 30), said a forest department official.

Her husband Nehru Kanwar managed to escape from the spot, he said.

In another incident, a man, Ram Korwa (60), and his daughter, Pyari (35) were killed by a wild elephant in Bevra village under the Lundra Forest Range on July 30 when they were returning home after farming work, the official said.

The father-daughter duo tried to flee, but the elephant chased them down, threw them to the ground, and trampled them to death, he said.

The third elephant attack incident occurred in Devgarh village under the Sitapur Forest Range, about 65 kilometres from the Lundra Forest Range, on Thursday morning, and the deceased was identified as Mohar Sai Sairam.

The 55-year-old had gone to his paddy field when he encountered two elephants. One of them charged at him and trampled him to death, the official stated.

In Korba, three persons have been arrested in connection with the death of the jumbo due to electrocution in Baigamar forest under Kudmura forest range, officials said.

Kumar Nishant, acting Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Korba forest division, said a herd of 37 elephants was roaming the area, and one of them died due to electric shocks on Thursday night.

During interrogation, three men -- Krishna Ram Rathiya, Baburam Rathiya, and Tikaram Rathiya --- all residents of Baigamar -- told forest officials they had illegally laid an electric wires o operate a borewell, he said.

The trio has been arrested and booked under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Human-elephant conflicts in the northern part of Chhattisgarh have been a major cause of concern for the state administration for the last one decade. The menace has further spread its footprint in some districts of the central region in the last few years.

The districts that have been witnessed human-elephant conflicts are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur and Balrampur.

According to the forest department officials, over 320 people had been killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years alone.