KORBA: Two senior citizens were killed in separate incidents of elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district on Sunday, forest officials said.
The incidents took place in Premnagar forest range, where a herd of 12 elephants has been roaming around since last week, they said.
The first incident took place around 12.30 am near Abhaypur village, where one of the victims Manbodh God (70) and another villager were having dinner after performing rituals at a temple in the forest, said Sanjay Yadav, divisional forest officer of Surajpur forest division.
On seeing the herd, the villager managed to escape but one of the elephants caught hold of Manbodh and trampled him to death, he said, adding that villagers had been warned against venturing into the forest.
Similarly, Raimati God (70) was attacked by the same herd while she was asleep in her hut in Janardanpur village.
She died on the spot, he said.
Forest officials rushed to the scene of the incidents and sent the bodies for post-mortem, the official said.
A team of forest personnel has been tracking the movement of the herd, and villagers have been alerted, he said.
Family members of each of the victims were given an immediate aid of Rs 25,000, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh each will be given after the completion of formalities, officials said.
Human-elephant conflicts in the state, particularly in the northern part, has been a major cause of concern for the last one decade.
The menace has been to districts in the central region in the last few years.
The districts facing the menace include Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Balod, Balrampur and Kanker.
According to the forest department, more than 210 people were killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last three years.