Chhattisgarh: Elderly man killed in elephant attack; 6th such fatality in Mahasamund this year

A 60-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh's Mahasamund district, officials said on Wednesday.

With this, six people have been killed in incidents of elephant attack so far this year in the district, located around 50 km from the state capital Raipur, they said.

In the latest incident, the jumbo attacked the victim, identified as Narayan Sahu, on Tuesday evening near Bandora village when he was traveling with another person on a motorcycle, divisional forest officer Pankaj Rajput said.

The two persons, residents of nearby Achanakpur village, were heading home from Jhalap town after some work when they came face-to-face with four elephants, he said.

"Sahu, who was driving the two-wheeler, suddenly applied the brakes following which the duo fell from the vehicle. While the pillion rider managed to escape from the spot, one of the jumbos slammed Sahu on the ground with its trunk. Sahu died on the spot,'' the official said.

The kin of the deceased have been provided an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh will be given after completing the necessary formalities, he said.

As per government records, 204 people were killed in elephant attacks, while 45 tuskers died in the state in the last three years (2018, 2019, and 2020).

Several incidents of human-elephant conflict have been reported in the past from the thick forested northern Chhattisgarh, consisting of Surguja, Surajpur, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur, Balrampur, and Korea districts.

The region has witnessed several killings of villagers and widespread damage to houses and crops by rogue elephants.