Man trampled to death by herd of elephants in Jharkhand

A villager has been trampled to death by a herd of elephants in Jharkhand's Gumla district, a forest official said Monday.

Divisional Forest Officer Srikant said the man had ventured out Sunday evening when the elephants attacked him.

"A herd of 18 elephants have reached Bandhudipa village area in the district two days ago. Local people have been asked to stay indoors after dusk and crackers were distributed among them to scare the pachyderms away," he said.

Despite the precautionary measures, one of the villagers was crushed to death by the herd, Srikant said, adding that said nine forest personnel have been deployed in the area to keep a watch on the movement of the elephants.

Agitated villagers jammed the Bharno Chowk, near Bandhudipa village, for two-and-a-half hours Monday morning, demanding Rs 15000 for the kin of the deceased villagers.

The DFO said the victim's kin would be compensated as per rules within the next 21 days.