Guwahati, Aug 16: Three persons from a family were killed in a wild elephant attack in the Rongsai area of the Assam-Meghalaya border. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Tuesday morning when a herd of wild elephants entered the village from the nearby areas of Meghalaya in search of food. The three people include a woman, her son and a relative. The deceased have been identified as Sarathi Lama, her son Suchit Biswakarma, and Bhim Bahadur Rai.
Speaking to The Assam Tribune, the District Forest Officer (DFO), Jitendra Kumar, said, "The incident occurred early in the morning in the Rongsai area, near Goalpara district. "After the incident was reported, we informed the local police and took them for a post-mortem," he said.
According to the DFO, elephants often visit this area and damage the villagers' properties.
On being asked about the rising issue of man-animal conflict in the State, Kumar stated that, "Increase in human population and settlements in the elephant corridors is considered as one of the primary reasons in the rise of such conflicts."
"The frequent occurrence of such incidents is because of the fragmented geographical structure of Goalpara and its adjoining areas which almost covers the forest areas of the place, which creates obstructions for the elephants to move from one forest to the other," The DFO further added.
