Jharkhand's Ramgarh district reeling after wild elephants kill 3, locals blame Forest Dept negligence

Ramgarh (The Uttam Hindu): A herd of wild elephants trampled three people to death in the Gola block area of ​​Jharkhand's Ramgarh district on Friday morning. The deceased included two brick kiln workers and an elderly villager.

Since the incident, an atmosphere of fear and anger against the Forest Department has gripped the entire area. The first incident occurred in Banda village, where two brick kiln workers, Dheeraj Bhuiyan and Jugal Bhuiyan, went out to defecate at around 4 a.m. A herd of elephants surrounded them and trampled them to death. Dheeraj was originally from Talatand in Patratu, while Jugal was from Kuju in Ramgarh.

The second incident occurred in Murpa village, where 80-year-old Ramdev Saw left his home early in the morning to collect Mahua flowers. He was attacked and trampled to death by elephants. It is reported that this herd of 12 elephants entered residential areas of Ramgarh district via the forests of Bokaro. Forest department officials and police arrived at the scene after receiving information about the incident. The bodies were taken into custody and sent for post-mortem examination.

Banda Panchayat head Kuldeep Tiwari accused the Forest Department of serious negligence, saying that the department had been informed in advance of the elephants' arrival, but no concrete steps were taken to drive them away from residential areas. Forest department officials stated that, as per government provisions, compensation of four lakh rupees will be given to the families of each deceased. The process of disbursing the immediate relief amount has been initiated.

Conflicts between elephants and humans in Jharkhand are becoming increasingly bloody. Last week, three people were killed in an elephant attack in Markacho, Koderma. According to statistics, more than 28 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks in the state in the last 50 days.