Chhattisgarh: Stray elephant tramples three women, cattle in 24 hours

Three women, including two of the same family, were trampled by an elephant in Korba district, officials said. The jumbo, which got separated from its herd, also trampled five cows and some calves.
Forest officials said they have been tracking the elephant’s movement and chasing it away from human settlements.
The elephant was spotted roaming near the villages of Kusmunda coal mine in Katghora forest division on Thursday, they said.
“On Thursday night, two women of a family – Teej Kunwar (60) and Surja Bai (40) – were attacked by the elephant outside their house in Khairbhavna village when they were trying to escape. They were killed on the spot,” said Kuman Nishant, district forest officer, Katghora division.
Earlier on Thursday, the same elephant attacked Gayatri Rathore in Ralia village as she stepped out of her home for a morning walk, leaving her critically injured.
“She later succumbed during treatment at a hospital in Korba on Thursday night,” Nishant said.
All the villages are located close to each other.
“The animal is part of a herd of eight elephants that had been roaming in Kartala forest range in the division and separated from the herd four days ago,” the DFO said.
The elephant has reportedly entered the neighbouring Janjgir-Champa district now and villagers have been alerted about its movement, officials said, adding that efforts are on to send the animal back to the forest safely.
According to the forest department, over 300 people have died in elephant attacks in the state over the last five years.