Man trampled to death by wild jumbos

Angry locals stage protest

A Correspondent

TANGLA, April 26: The Assamese folklore is replete with elephant songs as well as stories which celebrate the bonding between elephants and mankind. However, this beautiful relationship has undergone a big change in the present modern times. Today, elephants and human beings have seen a shift in the roles of a predator and a prey, with man most often being more predatory.

The Indo-Bhutan border villages in Udalguri district-region are fraught with human-animal conflict and bloodshed and continue to witness brutality of wild jumbos.  In yet another incident, one Dilip Boro (45), a driver by profession, was trampled to death by wild jumbos while his friend Bhandra Sahariah (55) sustained grievous injury at Rajagarh village under Dimakuchi PS in Udalguri district on Thursday morning.

Reportedly, a herd of wild jumbos first smashed the rented shed of the duo and pulled them from their beds before trampling the deceased in a nearby pond. The deceased and the injured are residents of Ramhari in Darrang and Panery in Udalguri respectively. The injured has been referred to GMCH for better treatment.

Locals in large number thronged the site and protested by burning tyres against the lackadaisical attitude of the forest department officials. Bhergaon SDPO B. Purkayastha rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. The agitated mob even resisted the police from taking the body of the deceased for post-mortem, demanding the arrival of DFO, Dhansiri Forest Division, Madhurjya Sarma, following which he arrived and the body was taken for post-mortem.

The incident is the first reported causality of man-elephant conflict in Udalguri this year while seven persons and eight elephants lost their lives in 2017.