Wild elephant kills farmer in C'garh

A wild elephant killed an elderly farmer in Chhattisagrh's Raigarh district, Forest officials said today.

The incident occurred last evening in Purunga village forest under Chhal forest range when Roopsai Agariya was headed towards his paddy field, said Dharamjaigarh Division Forest Officer (DFO) ParanayMishra.

Agariya came face-to-face with the pachyderm who chased and attacked him with its trunk, killing him on the spot, he said.

On receiving information, forest and police personnel rushed to the spot and sent Agariya's body for postmortem.

The kin of the deceased have been given an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 by the Forest department, the DFO said.

"The movement of a group of 14 jumbos has been reported in the area for the last few days. Therefore, the villagers have been advised to take precautions and stay alert while passing through jungles," he said.

The thick forested northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur and Korea districts, is notorious for human-elephant conflict incidents.

The region has witnessed several killings of tribals and widespread damage to houses and crops by rogue elephants in recent years.