3 people killed in elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh

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Two women and a man were killed in separate incidents of elephant attack in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district, a forest department official said on Sunday. The incidents took place on Saturday in forest areas under the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, located over 150 km from the state capital Raipur, he said.

The tiger reserve covers Udanti and Sitanadi wildlife sanctuaries and adjoining areas in Gariyaband district as well as parts of Sankara forest range in Dhamtari district.

On Saturday, an elephant attacked Bhumika Markam (38), a native of Paikbhata village, when she had gone along with other women to a nearby forest to collect wood, the official said.

The other women managed to escape and informed locals, who then alerted forest personnel.

The woman's body recovered from the spot after some people managed to chase away the tusker from the area, the official said.

The forest personnel also found near the spot the body of a man, identified as Budham Netam (45), a resident of nearby Paavdwar village. He is also believed to have been killed by the same elephant, the official said.

As per locals, Netam had also gone to the same area to collect wood, he said, adding that the two bodies were later sent for postmortem.

In another incident, Sukhbai (24), a resident of Bernasilli village, was trampled to death by an elephant on Saturday night when she went out to attend nature's call, the official said.

The family members of each of the deceased were given Rs 25,000 as immediate relief and further compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh per death will be disbursed after the completion of due formalities, he said.

Human-elephant conflicts in Chhattisgarh, particularly in its northern part, have been a major cause of concern for the last one decade, with the menace gradually spreading to some districts in the state's central part as well in the last few years.

Such incidents have mainly been witnessed in Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Balod, Balrampur and Kanker districts.

As per the forest department, 204 people were killed in elephant attacks while 45 jumbos died in Chhattisgarh in the last three years.