Elephants trample 50-year-old man to death in Raigarh

A 50-year-old man was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, a forest official said on Tuesday. Baratram Rathiya, who was guarding his field on Monday night, encountered pachyderms near Khamhar vill in Dharamjaigarh forest division, he said.

When he failed to return home next morning, matter was reported to police and his body was eventually found in forest, official said. A herd of 12 elephants has been spotted in area in last couple of days and despite several warnings, villrs, like victim, continue to venture into forest at night, he added.

Forest personnel have been directed to keep tabs on herd's movement to prevent human-elephant conflicts, he said. In past, several cases of human-elephant conflict have been reported in forests of rrn Chhattisgarh including Surguja, Surajpur, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur, Balrampur and Korea districts. region has witnessed several killings of tribals and dam to property and crops by rogue elephants.