Two persons were killed in an attack by a herd of elephants in two adjacent villages under Barhi police station area of Hazaribagh district on Friday evening. The forest department team arrived thereon Saturday.The team was trying to push the elephants back to Bihar border from where the elephants had come into the human habitat.
According to police, Rajesh Paswan (26), a resident of Dudpania village, died when the elephants attacked the field around 7.30 pm. As villagers raised alarm, the herd moved on to the adjacent village, Argaddha, where Sadiq Miyan (45) was trampled by them. While some crops were damaged, no houses were attacked. The police and forest department were subsequently informed.
The police said that the elephants may have attacked the residents after ‘getting trapped’. “When we reached the spot, we found that the elephant herd was not able to take any one direction towards the forest. It appears that the residents of the villages just tried to drive away the herd towards the other village. The forest department team has now arrived and they are pushing the herd in the right direction,” said Inspector (Barhi), Awadhesh Kumar.
After becoming angry over the alleged delay on the part of the Forest Department, the residents reached the police station and also tried to block the road. However, the police managed to pacify them.
The police said that the number of elephants in this herd was around 14, with four kid elephants.
“We have rounded up the herd and are pushing them towards the forest near Bihar border. This herd has come from the Chauparan forests, which is across the border in Bihar,” said Forest Ranger (Barhi), Gopal Gupta. A team of 16 personnel were involved in the task, he added. The deceased would be given compensation as per norms.
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