Within just one-and-a-half months, the wild elephants claimed the life of another man at Barjora village here today.
Kalipada Bauri (59) of Shyampur village located within the Shitala Beat of Barjora Range in Bankura (North) forest division fell victim of the recurring elephant menace today.
Kalipada, according to the family members of the deceased and their neighbours, was attacked by an elephant in the wee hours today. Prasanta Bauri, a kin of the victim, narrated, “The elephant attacked him unprovoked when he’d been out at his farmland.” Chandan, the son of the deceased, said, “The elephant left my father absolutely mangled and then vanished in the jungle.”
The forest officials, accompanied by police, faced local ire while trying to recover the body at Shyampur, this morning. The members of the Sangrami Gana Mancha, a forum struggling against elephant menace also assembled and expressed annoyance against the forest department’s alleged apathy.
Shubhrangshu Mukherjee, secretary of the Mancha said, “This was the third human death caused by the marauding elephant herds since January. We’ve demanded the department should take immediate measures to evacuate the wild herds, especially the tuskers from our areas to prevent further human death by the herd.”
The DFO, Bankura (North), Umar Imam said, “Today, it’s not a tusker, however. It’s a bull elephant, which has been located.” In Bankura (North) division, 18 migratory elephants have been tracked and of them, 15 were located roaming within the Barjora range itself. Considering the presence of the ‘killer’ wild elephants, the forest department had arranged special safe corridors for the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinees there like the previous year.