Elephant goes berserk, crushes man to death in Darjeeling

A herd of elephants intruded into the human habitat in the Upper Bagdogra near Siliguri. Later, they went berserk and attacked Dilip Roy, who happened to come in front of the elephant while passing by. Finding no way to escape, the elephant grabbed the individual and crushed him to death.

Darjeeling (West Bengal):A person died and another was injured after a rampaging elephant attacked them in the Upper Bagdogra near Siliguri on December 16. The deceased has been identified as Dilip Roy, who was a mason and lost his life after the elephant's attack, on Saturday morning.

Subsequently, the elephant attacked a four-wheeler with the driver in front. The elephant tried to push the car with its trunk. As a result, the driver of the car was injured. According to the forest department report, a herd of elephants entered the Tukuriyajhar forest of Upper Bagdogra in search of food. Soon after that, they vandalised several houses and then attacked Dilip Roy, who happened to come in front of the elephant while passing by. Finding no way to escape, the elephant grabbed the individual and crushed him under its foot.

Meanwhile, Bagdogra range forest staff rushed to the spot and managed to drive the elephant away to the forest. Later, the Bagdogra police recovered the victim's body and shifted it to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for autopsy.

Amritlal Sarkar, the deputy head of the local panchayat, said, "This is the second time elephants entered our area. Earlier, they had entered through Shiavita. A memorandum has been submitted to the forest department to see why the elephants are repeatedly entering. Besides, the officials of the forest department said that compensation will be given to the family of the deceased."