Wild elephant tramples a middle-aged person to death in Udalguri

A Correspondent

TANGLA: At a time when man-elephant conflict has taken a serious turn in the Indo-Bhutan border villages in Udalguri district, a middle-aged person was trampled to death by a wild jumbo at Deochunga near Bhergaon in Udalguri district on Saturday night.

The victim has been identified as Krishna Barman (45) who along with his friends was trying to chase away a herd of wild jumbos to the jungle when he was trampled to death. Meanwhile, the villagers of the human-elephant conflict zone have decried the lackadaisical attitude and passive role of the forest personnel, who despite calls hardly reach the villages to help the villagers combat the menace of the wild jumbos.

“The forest department has miserably failed in checking the menace and even after suggestions of pushing in kumki (trained) elephants to chase away herds, such steps have not been taken,” alleged a conservationist and wildlife activist of the district. The man-elephant conflict has taken an ugly turn along the Indo-Bhutan border villages in Udalguri district claiming as many as 7 human lives and 8 elephants in 2017-18.

Also read: Wild jumbos create havoc; residents spend sleepless nights at Borengabari village in Tangla