On Saturday, two brothers were tragically killed by an elephant in Kersai village, located in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district. The incident occurred early in the morning within the Tapkara forest range.
The victims, Kokde (45) and Padva (43), were attacked by the wild elephant while they were asleep in their mud house. Forest officials reported that the attack happened around 3 a.m. When one brother woke up and ventured outside after sensing the elephant, the animal seized him with its trunk and trampled him. The second brother was killed while attempting to rescue him.
Forest and police personnel arrived promptly at the scene, recovered the bodies, and sent them for postmortem examination. An ex-gratia payment of Rs. 25,000 has been announced for the victims’ families, with additional compensation to follow upon completing necessary procedures.
In response to the incident, forest officers and volunteers have been actively monitoring elephant movements, alerting villagers, and advising caution due to ongoing human-elephant conflicts in the Tapkara area. Such conflicts have been a growing issue in northern Chhattisgarh, impacting several districts including Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Jashpur, and Balrampur.