Elephant tramples man to death in Bengal; ninth such death reported this year

Kolkata: A man was trampled to death by a rogue elephant in Bagdogra near Siliguri in West Bengal on Saturday.

With this death, the total number of human fatalities caused by elephant attack this year has gone up to nine.

The man killed on Saturday has been identified as Dilip Roy, a mason by profession.

Forest department officials said that the victim unfortunately came in front of the elephant, which got isolated from its herd and entered the locality. While Roy was killed in the attack, one more person was injured who has been admitted to a hospital. The elephant also damaged a couple of houses in the locality.

This is the second human fatality caused by elephant attack in Darjeeling district within a month. In November, a woman died in a similar elephant attack in the Naxalbari area of the district.

The forest department officials have assured the victim's family of compensation. Department sources admitted that the entry of elephants into human habitations has become a permanent headache for the department as well as the local people.

The danger, according to them, is two-way. On one hand, the entry of tuskers into human habitations poses life threat for the local people. On the other hand, to prevent their entry into their localities, the villages often use electric fencing on the village boundaries, which becomes fatal for the tuskers.