Elephants attack villagers, one killed

By our Staff Reporter
Lakhimpur, July 17: A person was killed by a herd of elephants in North Lakhimpur district at Kakoy Reserve Forest.  At around midnight, a herd of wild elephants attacked the local people. One person was killed in the jumbo attack. He has been identified as Lakhaswar Rai. An amount of Rs 1 lakh will be given from the government as compensation to family of Lakhaswar Rai within a period of three months. “We have seen many elephants come during the midnight in search of food. They destroy our crops. When we try to chase them away, the wild elephants attack us. Many people have been killed before in elephant attacks. We want protection from the government,” said Abhijit Gogoi, a local person. “These elephants come from Aruchal Pradesh through the Kakoy Reserve Forest in search of food. Deforestation has driven them out of their tural habitat to villages in search of food. This clash between the people and elephants has been going on since a long period of time. We human beings are to be blamed for deforestation,” said Amuliya Konch, Range Officer.