Man trampled to death by herd of elephants in Assam’s Udalguri
Police said the incident took place on Monday late at night in Udalguri’s Bamunjuli area while the man was returning from Durga Puja celebrations with his 8-year-old son
A 39-year-old man was allegedly trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants near the Batabari forest range in Assam’s Udalguri, police said.
Police said the incident took place on Monday late at night in Udalguri’s Bamunjuli area while the man was returning from Durga Puja celebrations with his 8-year-old son.
Police have identified the deceased as Abinash Gowala, a farmer. His son, however, managed to escape but sustained severe injuries, according to the police.
“The dead body was recovered late Monday night and sent to a local government hospital for postmortem. His son also sustained some injuries during the process,” said Pushkin Jain, superintendent of police (SP), Udalguri district.
According to the local residents, herd elephants from the nearby forest often come out in search of food. On Monday night, more than 20 elephants came out from the forest into the village, they said.
Police said that they received information about the incident late Monday night and they recovered the trampled dead body with help from forest officials.
At least three similar incidents were reported from several areas of Assam this year in which two minor boys and a forest official were killed.
Officials from the forest department said that in most cases, wild elephants come out in search of food in the nearby villages leading to the man-animal conflict. They suggested that the people living near reserve forest areas be more alert.
Last week, the dead body of an adult elephant was found near the India-Bangladesh border in Karimganj district. However, the forest officials said that they didn’t find any sign of poaching.
