Bihar: Rampaging jumbo kills four in Nawada

PATNA: Four people, including a 10-year-old boy, were trampled to death by a rampaging wild elephant in Nawada district on Thursday. According to senior forest officials, a quick response team from Patna zoo along with a tranquilisation team are already at the spot to tackle the jumbo that has reportedly strayed from Koderma forest in neighbouring Jharkhand.
“The first casualty was reported around 7 am in Nardiganj block, followed by two more deaths around 1 pm and the fourth casualty was reported at 4 pm.The first three persons were senior citizens (60 years or above), and they encountered the elephant in the agriculture fields. The fourth casualty was a 10-year-old boy walking on a village road under Sitamarhi police station,” A Nawada forest department official told TOI on Thursday.
The Nawada official added that the elephant's last known location till 6 pm on Thursday was at Guljar Bigha village in Hisua block. “Teams have come from Patna and we are keeping a strict vigil on the elephant. The effort is to chase the elephant back to the forests or tranquilise it if needed,” he said.
He added that teams of forest department officials from Gaya as well as Nawada are tracking the jumbo and chasing it away from human settlements. “Announcements have been made in the nearby villages for people to remain alert,” the official said.
A senior forest department official said the elephant is a male and is around 15 years old. “It has strayed from forests in Koderma district in neighbouring Jharkhand and entered Nawada via Gaya,” he said.
Environment, forests and climate change minister Neeraj Kumar Singh said in a statement that a QRT and tranquillisation team was sent to Nawada. Besides, a special team has been requisitioned from West Bengal to chase away the elephant.
The minister added that compensation as per norms would be paid to the next of kin of the victims within ten days.
Earlier this month, a tigress from Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) killed three persons and injured a forest department staff in the West Champaran district. It died at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, commonly known as Patna zoo, on February 19. Forest officials had claimed that the tigress was very old and had strayed into a human settlement near VTR as she was unable to hunt for food in the forest. She was trapped by a team of 60 staff and officials from the forests department after a weeklong track and trap operations in the Manguraha range in the tiger reserve.