40-year-old man dies after being trampled by elephant in Ranchi

RANCHI: A 40-year-old man succumbed to his injuries during treatment after a wild elephant trampled him in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday in Ranchi’s Tamar block, around 50km from the capital city, forest officials said.

The deceased, identified as Budhram Munda and resident of Kundla village under Tamar police station in Ranchi district, had sustained severe internal and external injuries, officials said. Locals said his body appeared to have tossed and dashed to the ground several times.

Tamar forest range officer,

Amarnath Bhagat said on Sunday, “Munda went to attend nature’s call around 1.30am on Saturday, where he encountered the elephant and was trampled. A herd of five elephants has been roaming the area for past few days. We have already alerted villagers about their presence.”

When asked if the deceased had a functioning toilet at home, Bhagat said, “I am not sure about that. But, we have seen here that people go out to relieve themselves despite having toilets.”

Notably, the previous NDA government in Jharkhand had declared the state open defecation-free (ODF) in 2018.

The forest department provided ₹50,000 as immediate relief to family of the deceased.

“The rest ₹3.5 lakh will be given to the family only after certification of the deceased person, which includes postmortem report and FIR copy from police station,” he said.

Sande Munda, brother of the deceased, said his elder brother had gone to attend nature’s call around 1.30am on Saturday. “But, when he did not return, we went to the forest and found him bleeding profusely. We immediately took him to a local hospital, where he died during treatment,” he said.

Locals alleged such incidents take place due to lackadaisical approach of forest officials. They also blamed that officials did not alert them about the presence of the elephant in the area.