Man killed in elephant attack in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district

Raigarh: A 23-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

Victim Shiv Prasad Rathiya, a labourer, was attacked by the elephant near Sisiringa village when he was returning after work, said Dharamjaigarh Divisional Forest Officer Abhishek Jogawat.

Soon after being alerted, forest personnel reached the spot and shifted an injured Rathiya to Dharamjaigarh civil hospital where doctors declared him dead, he said.

The kin of the deceased have been provided an instant relief of Rs 25,000, the official added.

Human-elephant conflicts in the state, particularly in the northern part, had been a major cause for concern in the last decade. Gradually, it has spread to some districts of the central region in the last few years.

The districts mainly facing human-elephant conflicts are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Balod and Balrampur. According to the forest department, more than 300 people have been killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years.