With the police not warning the locals about the chase, the tusker leisurely chased the victims and killed them. Ash Maya Rai, 75, and Gan Maya Basnet, 68, of Prithvinagar-5, and Durga Pandey, 57, of ward No 8 were killed while Ganga Oli and Janch Bahadur Rai were injured in the attack.[break]
The elephant which entered the village at around six in the morning first attacked Pandey who was working in the field near his house. It chased him and trampled him thrice killing him on the spot, according to locals. Ash Maya, who was sitting around the fire in her courtyard unaware, was thrown away by the tusker even as she tried to rush into her house. She breathed her last while being taken to Bhadrapur for treatment.
Basnet, who had gone with breakfast for her son working in the field, was trampled by the elephant that was being chased away by the locals. The village is in a state of shock after three persons were killed within two hours. They have also blamed the death on negligence of the police and forest officials.
The elephant that had entered Baniyani from Balubadi forest was chased north by blank fires from local policemen.
“The villagers were unaware till the elephant arrived. The police should have informed us,” said Uttam Kumar Rai, a local. “The forest officials also didn´t say anything and the elderly who could not run were attacked,” he added.
Police, however, claimed that they were trying to chase it across the Mechi river to India.
“The elephant apparently was a troubled one and seemed to attack humans on sight,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mohan Sharma said. He said the tusker has entered the Gaurishankar jungle from Prithvinagar and security has been tightened to avert possible attack.
The toll of tusker attack in the district has reached four in less than a week with Thursday´s attack in Prithvinagar. Dil Bahadur Rana, 68, of Garamani was killed in an elephant attack six days ago.
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