Koderma: An elephant separated from its herd trampled two persons, including a Birhor woman, to death in Koderma district on Wednesday night, officials said.Around 9:30 pm on Wednesday, the elephant attacked and killed Mania Birhorni and injured her daughter at a Birhor hamlet in Mariampur, while her husband escaped. The elephant then moved to the Bonakali area, where it broke into a house and killed 40-year-old Baleshwar Soren from Deogarh district.While villagers reported seeing a small herd, forest officials said that a single elephant separated from its herd was responsible for the fatalities.DFO (wildlife) Suraj Kumar Singh said that multiple teams are working to drive the elephant into a safer zone. “Immediate financial assistance has been provided to the grieving families for funeral rites, with full compensation to be given following official formalities,” he said.Koderma deputy commissioner Rituraj and DFO (territorial) Saumitra Shukla also visited Mariampur and took stock of the situation.The district administration and forest department have responded with a series of emergency measures to prevent further loss of life. The DC said, “Forest department has been asked to take up immediate safety measures in the affected forest fringe areas.”The plan includes identifying “red zones” for stricter monitoring and deepening trenches along forest boundaries to block elephant entry. “To empower locals, a team of 10 locals from each forest village will be trained in elephant deterrence.”The forest department has also been directed to distribute torches and firecrackers to help villagers protect their homes. Authorities have appealed to the public to avoid venturing out after dark and to report any elephant sightings to the department immediately.Since 2023, at least eight deaths in elephant attacks have been recorded in Koderma, which also falls along major elephant migration corridors from Hazaribag and Bihar.
