Bokaro, February 5: In a tragic incident in Bokaro district of Jharkhand, a herd of elephants crushed three members of the same family to death, while two others sustained serious injuries. The incident occurred in the village of Barkipunnu in the Gomia block, where the sudden attack by elephants early Thursday morning created panic among the locals.
According to local villagers, the herd entered the village around 7 PM on Wednesday. The villagers managed to scare the elephants back into the forest at that time. However, the threat was not over. At around 3 AM on Thursday, the same herd re-entered the village and began wreaking havoc.
During this chaos, the elephants trampled three family members—two women and a man—resulting in their immediate deaths. The deceased have been identified as Ganga Karmali, Kamli Devi, and Bhagiya Devi. Two other injured relatives were rushed to a nearby hospital, where their condition is being monitored by doctors.
The sudden incident has left the residents of Barkipunnu village in shock. The tragic loss of three lives has cast a pall of mourning over the community. Villagers have expressed concerns about the increasing movement of elephants in the area, stating that such incidents are recurring due to inadequate safety measures.
It is noteworthy that on January 25, a similar incident occurred in the remote village of Darahabeda in the Gomia block, where a man named Karamchand Soren was killed by elephants. Following that incident, state government minister Yogendra Prasad had directed the forest department to take strict measures to curb elephant attacks. However, the recent incident has raised questions about the preparedness of the forest department. Since January, more than 18 people have lost their lives due to elephant attacks in Jharkhand.
The rising frequency of such incidents has turned human-elephant conflict into a serious challenge in the state, prompting calls for urgent and effective measures to address the issue.