Elephant tramples forest driver to death in Gadchiroli Times of India September 17, 2023 See link <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/elephant-tramples-forest-driver-to-death-in-gadchiroli/articleshow/103721041.cms?from=mdr>for photo. A wild elephant killed a forest department driver, as his superiors watched in horror, in Palasgaon jungle under Armori forest range in Gadchiroli district on Saturday evening. The victim, Sudhakar Atram, Atram was part of the team of foresters led by ACF Sandeep Bharti that was visiting compartment no. 85 in Mahadevgarh hillocks under Armori range having presence of the herd to ensure safety and vigilance. The driver had parked the vehicle along the road while the forest team was keeping a watch on the herd when suddenly an elephant charged towards them, said sources. The elephant lifted Atram and smashed him on the road. The elephant again lifted Atram and threw him towards the jungle. Atram suffered multiple injuries and died on the spot, said sources. The team of foresters, which included Bharti, RFO, Armori, Avinash Meshram, round officer Mukhru Kinekar, forest guards Shurkar, Balu Atkare, Roopa Sahare and bunch of forest labourers, later chased away the elephant herd and recovered Atram’s body. The body was sent to Desaiganj rural hospital for post-mortem. A herd of elephants had migrated into Gadchiroli district from neighbouring Chhattisgarh in October 2021. An elephant had injured a farmer from Yerkad village in Dhanora tehsil in the early days. The herd had also destroyed several fields. The elephants had returned to Chhattisgarh before staging a comeback with bigger numbers in August last year. Since then the herd is moving around in Gadchiroli and bordering forests of neighbouring Gondia and Chandrapur districts. Last year in October, a villager was trampled to death after a mob tried to chase away the herd near Navegaon National Park. Gadchiroli district is grappling with human-elephant conflict for the past two years. According to foresters, the Armori forest range officers have been trying to rein in a herd of 19 elephants for the past eight days. In order to deal with elephant-human conflict, forest officials are collaborating with Hulla Team, a NGO from West Bengal. Sources in the forest department informed that the Hulla team, led by expert Sen Gupta, is expected to arrive on September 17 in Wadsa, where it will join forces with local forest authorities to address the problem. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/elephant-tramples-forest-driver-to-death-in-gadchiroli/articleshow/103721041.cms?from=mdr