West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand witnessed fresh bloodshed on Friday as a rogue two-tusked elephant killed three people, including a forest department employee and a child, renewing panic across the district.
The latest attacks have taken the death toll linked to the rogue elephant to 22 in the past nine days.
The first incident occurred early Friday morning near Tilokuti village in Benisagar panchayat of Majhgaon block, where the elephant trampled two villagers to death.
The victims included a 40-year-old man, identified as Prakash Malwa of Benisagar, and a child. Eyewitnesses said the child’s body got entangled in the elephant’s tusk during the attack, underscoring the brutality of the incident.
Hours later, the elephant struck again in the Benisagar area when a forest department team, accompanied by villagers, was attempting to drive it away.
The tusker attacked a forest worker, repeatedly slamming him to the ground and killing him on the spot. During the same operation, another forest staffer from West Bengal was hit and flung away by the elephant, leaving him seriously injured.
Forest officials said the elephant had remained relatively calm over the past 48 hours but suddenly turned violent again on Friday. Since January 1, the tusker has been repeatedly entering residential areas, primarily attacking people at night while they were asleep inside their homes.
The elephant has carried out attacks at 12 different locations so far. Thursday was one of the rare days when no casualties were reported.
Following the latest killings, the forest department and the Gujarat-based Vantara team were put on high alert. Teams from Bankura in West Bengal, Dalma in Jamshedpur, and the Odisha Wildlife Department have been deployed to assist in tracking and controlling the elephant.
Late Thursday night, a Vantara elephant expert reached the Hat Gamharia camp along with the Divisional Forest Officer. Officials conducted overnight verification of villagers’ inputs using torchlight patrols to pinpoint the animal’s movement.
Jharkhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Ashutosh Upadhyay and Regional Chief Conservator of Forests Smita Pankaj visited Chaibasa and reviewed the situation on the ground.
They held meetings with field staff, directing them to keep quick response teams fully activated and forest protection committees on high alert.
The forest department said the elephant would be tranquilised and relocated to a safer habitat as soon as its exact location is confirmed. Meanwhile, villagers have demanded intensified night patrols and a stronger warning system to prevent further loss of life.
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