Two brothers killed in elephant attack in Chhattisgarh

Jashpur, Jul 27 (PTI) Two brothers in their forties were trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district in the wee hours of Saturday, officials said.
The incident took place at around 3 am in Kersai village under Tapkara forest range when the victims identified as Kokde (45) and Padva (43) were sleeping in their mud house, a forest official said.
As per the preliminary information, one of the victims woke up on sensing the presence of a pachyderm and came outside the house to check. However, the elephant caught hold of him with its trunk and trampled him to death. His brother was also killed in a bid to save him, he said.
After being alerted about the incident, personnel of the forest and police departments reached the spot this morning, he said.
The kin of each of the deceased will be given an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 while the remaining compensation will be given after completing necessary formalities, the official added.
Herds of elephants have been roaming in the Tapkara area since the last six months and forest personnel and volunteers have been keeping a tab on their movements. Villagers are informed and alerted from time to time about the location of the herds and advised to remain cautious, he said.
Human-elephant conflicts in the state, particularly in the northern parts, had been a major cause of concern for the last one decade. The districts that have been facing the menace are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Jashpur and Balrampur.
According to the forest department, around 270 people were killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last three years.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)