RANCHI: The menace of wild elephant attacks continues in Jharkhand as six more people were trampled to death by a herd of elephants at Gondwar village under Churchu Block in Hazaribagh early in the morning on Friday.
According to locals, the herd of five elephants first damaged the entrance gate of the house and attacked people sleeping inside, creating havoc among the villagers.
The deceased individuals range between age groups from one-year-old children to over 50 years old, including Suman Kumari (26), Dhaneshwar Ram (52), Suraj Ram (50), Savita Devi (25), and two young children, Anurag Ram (1) and Sanjana Kumari (3 months).
All of them were sleeping in their homes at the time of the incident.
Suraj Ram, Savita Devi, Anurag Ram, and Sanjana Kumari belong to the same family.
According to villagers the elephants are roaming in the area, posing a constant threat to their lives and property. They have also demanded immediate compensation and a permanent solution for them.
Notably, a herd of elephants have been roaming in the area for a month.
The Forest Department had been periodically alerting people about the situation.
Confirming the incident, DFO Eastern Forest Division Vikas Kumar Ujjwal said that, considering the aggressiveness of the elephant herd, they have sought permission to tranquillise them.
“The herd is quite aggressive and has been moving very fast; it has become difficult for the forest staff to monitor it. But now, we have formed a special team which will keep a close watch on it round the clock. A team of experts has also been called from Bankura so that it could be kept away from the residential areas,” said the DFO.
"Meanwhile, permission has been sought from the higher authorities to tranquillise the herd," he added.
Referring to the incident, the DFO informed that the elephant herd was trying to break open the gate to eat rice kept inside it.
Ujjwal confirmed that six people have been killed in this incident.
The DFO also appealed to people that if they get information related to elephant movement in the area, people should remain in safer places.
They should remain inside pucca houses; if they do not have them, they should take shelter in the nearby school building or any concrete structure.
Recounting his ordeal, Rohit Ram, a survivor of the elephant attack, said that he saved his life by jumping out of the window.
“The herd of elephants first broke down the entrance gate of the house. When my father and I went outside, we saw an elephant in front of us. Immediately,y I told my father to go inside. Meanwhile, the elephant tried to grab me with his trunk. I hit it with a frying pan kept inside the house, and the tusker retreated. Then I jumped out of the window and ran out the other way, shouting and waking people up,” said Rohit Ram.
Notably, elephants have frequently been creating havoc in the Gomia block of Ramgarh and Hazaribagh, claiming the lives of several people.
Recently, five people were killed in an elephant attack in Gomia block.
