Woman killed, 2 hurt in West Midnapore elephant rampage (State of West
Bengal, India)
Anshuman Phadikar, The Telegraph India
January 14, 2021
See link
https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/woman-killed-2-hurt-in-west-midnapore-elephant-rampage/cid/1803596
for photo.
One person was killed and two grievously injured when an elephant in West
Midnapore’s Chandrakona and Anandapur went on a rampage of local paddy
fields, and then the village, on Wednesday morning.
Eyewitnesses said the deceased, Gita Ghosh, 45, had been working on a field
in Anandapur’s Kharaberia around 8am when she was “ambushed” by the male
elephant and tossed onto the ground “killing her on the spot”.
“A group of villagers chased the tusker, but that enraged him even more. He
stormed into the town area causing a panic and injured two persons
seriously in addition to smashing several motorcycles,” said villager Abani
Gyne. “Initially, the villagers were successful in chasing him away, but at
one point the tusker made a turnaround and chased us,” Gyne added.
Sources said Gajanan Das, 49, from Chandrakona’s Tukunia village was
grievously injured after being “hurled by the trunk” like the deceased
victim earlier in the day. Sources said the tusker was estimated to have
roamed the two areas of West Midnapore for over 10 hours on Wednesday
before being herded back into the forest.
Gyne claimed that the forest department, who were contacted immediately,
“enraged” the tusker with their tactics, causing him to storm the village.
The forest department had tried to scare away the elephant by beating drums
but the strategy had backfired, villagers said. Asked, forest department
officials said the claim was “baseless” and that all protocol for an attack
on humans had been followed.
“The tusker reacted angrily and violently but we followed all the rules for
containing an attacking elephant. The tusker has been returned to its wild
habitat as of Wednesday evening. The death was definitely a tragedy,” said
additional divisional forest officer (Midnapore) Bijoy Chakraborty. “The
tusker is residential, and for some reason roamed 7km out of its habitat
this morning. He also trampled several hundred acres of paddy first,” he
added.
Sources said the family of the deceased will receive Rs 3 lakh in
compensation and that the two injured persons were being treated at
hospital.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/woman-killed-2-hurt-in-west-midnapore-elephant-rampage/cid/1803596
Woman killed, 2 hurt in West Midnapore elephant rampage (State of West
Bengal, India)
Anshuman Phadikar, The Telegraph India
January 14, 2021
See link
<https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/woman-killed-2-hurt-in-west-midnapore-elephant-rampage/cid/1803596>
for photo.
One person was killed and two grievously injured when an elephant in West
Midnapore’s Chandrakona and Anandapur went on a rampage of local paddy
fields, and then the village, on Wednesday morning.
Eyewitnesses said the deceased, Gita Ghosh, 45, had been working on a field
in Anandapur’s Kharaberia around 8am when she was “ambushed” by the male
elephant and tossed onto the ground “killing her on the spot”.
“A group of villagers chased the tusker, but that enraged him even more. He
stormed into the town area causing a panic and injured two persons
seriously in addition to smashing several motorcycles,” said villager Abani
Gyne. “Initially, the villagers were successful in chasing him away, but at
one point the tusker made a turnaround and chased us,” Gyne added.
Sources said Gajanan Das, 49, from Chandrakona’s Tukunia village was
grievously injured after being “hurled by the trunk” like the deceased
victim earlier in the day. Sources said the tusker was estimated to have
roamed the two areas of West Midnapore for over 10 hours on Wednesday
before being herded back into the forest.
Gyne claimed that the forest department, who were contacted immediately,
“enraged” the tusker with their tactics, causing him to storm the village.
The forest department had tried to scare away the elephant by beating drums
but the strategy had backfired, villagers said. Asked, forest department
officials said the claim was “baseless” and that all protocol for an attack
on humans had been followed.
“The tusker reacted angrily and violently but we followed all the rules for
containing an attacking elephant. The tusker has been returned to its wild
habitat as of Wednesday evening. The death was definitely a tragedy,” said
additional divisional forest officer (Midnapore) Bijoy Chakraborty. “The
tusker is residential, and for some reason roamed 7km out of its habitat
this morning. He also trampled several hundred acres of paddy first,” he
added.
Sources said the family of the deceased will receive Rs 3 lakh in
compensation and that the two injured persons were being treated at
hospital.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/woman-killed-2-hurt-in-west-midnapore-elephant-rampage/cid/1803596