A 27-year-old farmer from Assam’s Tamulpur district was allegedly trampled to death by an elephant on Saturday after he accidentally came in front of a herd, forest department officials said.
The deceased, identified as Rijoy Dey, an areca nut farmer, was a resident of the Chandranagar area in Kauli, Tamulpur district near the India-Bhutan border.
According to forest department officials, the incident occurred in the Kauli area around 1am when Dey was returning home from a local market.
“A herd of elephants was roaming in the area, and locals said the victim accidentally encountered them and was trampled to death on the spot by one elephant,” an official said.
Locals claimed that Dey tried to escape but heavy rain prevented him from running. They further alleged that after killing Dey, the elephant entered a nearby residential area and damaged several houses.
“We ran out of our houses to save ourselves from the angry tusker, but it destroyed our houses, trees, everything,” locals said.
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Residents claim that while elephant movement in the area is not new, no lasting solution has yet been found to the recurring human-elephant conflict.
“During the harvesting season, elephants enter the area in search of food and usually return before the rains intensify. But sometimes they stay back, and this year we are facing that situation. We are scared, and nobody knows who will be the next victim,” locals said.
In recent years, Tamulpur and adjoining areas along the Bhutan border have witnessed multiple deaths of both humans and elephants, indicating a sharp rise in human-wildlife conflict.
In October and November last year, four elephants were electrocuted in the region. Forest officials said that locals allegedly used live electric wires to prevent elephants from entering cultivation areas.
According to officials, several individuals were detained in connection with the illegal use of live wires. However, locals blamed the forest department and the administration for failing to provide adequate protection from wild elephants.
