TURA, Aug 15: It has been a tragic start to the celebrations of India’s 75th Independence Day with a wild elephant attack in Pedaldoba area of West Garo Hills that has resulted in the deaths of three villagers, including a mother and her young son.
The incident occured at Kurung village of Pedaldoba at around 2 AM when a wild herd of elephants came to the village looking for food and some of the villagers abandoned their homes for fear of it being damaged and began fleeing in the dark only to get chased by the elephants.
The elephants chased and attacked a mother and her 5 year old son who were fleeing to seek shelter elsewhere. Both Sarati Lama (32 years) and her 5 year old son Suchit Biswakarma were trampled to death by the herd.
The elephants also attacked and killed 40 year old Bhim Bh Roy (40) in the same village.
The area is close to the Assam border and the wild elephants have been criss crossing for the last few days, informed wildlife officials. Forest and police teams had been placed on alert and on duty in the area to monitor their movement, but the wild herd managed to give them a slip and entered a village with devastating consequences.
