Elderly man killed by wild stray elephant Purulia’s Dalha village

A 75-year-old man was killed early Saturday morning in a tragic wild elephant attack in Purulia district’s Dalha village. The incident occurred around 7 am while the elderly victim, Bahadur Mahato, was cutting trees near the village forest boundary.

The elephant had strayed into the region from neighboring Bankura district, where it had taken shelter the previous day in the Jhantipahadi forest. Despite being aware of the elephant’s presence, forest authorities from the Kangsabati North Forest Division reportedly lost track of its movements overnight.

Taking advantage of the night’s weather conditions and natural cover, the elephant crossed into Purulia via Kaliabasa under Hura police station. It later moved through Junarbari and reached the Puncha range of the forest division past midnight.

Unfortunately, despite being close to the Puncha range office, the elephant remained undetected. Early the next morning, it reached Dalha village, just a few hundred meters from the block office. It was here that the elephant attacked Mahato without warning, knocking him to the ground and trampling him.

Local residents rushed to help and transported the critically injured man to Puncha Rural Health Center. However, he succumbed to his injuries while being transferred to a higher medical facility for advanced treatment.

Forest department officials have confirmed the incident. Muditkumar, Divisional Forest Officer of Kangsabati North Forest Division, said that the family of the deceased will be provided immediate compensation as per government norms.