Hazaribag: A 63-year-old man was trampled to death by an elephant while grazing cattle in Bhikhanadih village under Algadih panchayat in Hazaribag’s Chalkusha police station area on Thursday, officials said.Jhari Yadav had gone to graze cattle around 4 pm when the elephant allegedly attacked and killed him on the spot. When he did not return by late evening, his family began searching but stopped after dark.Villagers found Yadav’s body in the forest around 6 am on Friday and informed his family and forest department.Chalkusha police station officer in charge Narendra Kumar Pandey reached the spot. The body was handed over to Yadav’s relatives after a postmortem at Barhi sub-divisional hospital. Yadav is survived by his wife, four sons and a daughter.Local representatives and villagers said elephants had repeatedly attacked and killed people across panchayats in Chalkusha block. They alleged that forest department had not taken adequate preventive measures.Forest department personnel, including foresters Rakesh Kumar, Anand Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Sikandar Kumar and Aman Kumar, reached the spot and provided Rs 1 lakh as immediate assistance to the deceased’s family. The remaining Rs 9 lakh compensation would be paid after the Circle Officer’s report is received, officials said.
