Two people died in separate wild elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district on Saturday, raising the state’s death toll from such incidents this week to three, forest officials confirmed.
Latest elephant attacks in Raigarh
The incidents occurred in the early hours within the Chhal and Kapu forest ranges of the Dharamjaigarh division. In Talgaon village, Shakuntala Bai, 37, was killed by a tusker after it entered the area, triggering panic. Her minor daughter escaped unharmed.
In Auranara village, Bandhan Singh Agariya, 50, a laborer, was fatally attacked at around 5 am while stepping outside his home. Forest and police teams retrieved both bodies and initiated post-mortem procedures.
Compensation and ongoing conflict
Authorities provided immediate financial aid of Rs 25,000 to each victim’s family, with an additional Rs 5.75 lakh to follow after formalities. The human-elephant conflict has persisted in northern Chhattisgarh for over a decade, recently spreading to central regions.
Raigarh’s Dharamjaigarh area, along with Korba, Surguja, Surajpur, Jashpur, and Balrampur districts, remains severely affected. Over 330 deaths from elephant attacks have been recorded in Chhattisgarh in the past five years, per forest department data.
