Korba (Chhattisgarh), March 5 The in-charge of a paddy procurement center was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Korba district, Chhattisgarh, in the early hours of Thursday. His wife and a few employees narrowly escaped the attack, officials of the forest department said.
The incident occurred around 2 am in Kudmura village, under the jurisdiction of the Kartala police station, in the Korba forest division, an official said.
According to preliminary information, a large quantity of paddy purchased from farmers at the minimum support price was stored at a procurement center in Kudmura due to a lack of transportation, he said.
Rajesh Kumar Singh (55), a resident of Prem Nagar Rajgamar and a salesman with the Tribal Cooperative Society in Korkoma, was appointed as the in-charge of the procurement center, he said.
Singh, along with his wife Pinki Devi and two to three employees, had been staying overnight in a temporary hut at the center to guard the stock, following reports of paddy theft in recent days.
A wild elephant entered the procurement center premises in the early hours, and while Singh and others tried to drive the elephant away using torchlight and making loud noises, they were unsuccessful. The giant animal attacked Singh and trampled him to death, the official said.
His wife and other employees of the procurement center managed to escape the scene amidst the chaos. Forest department officials were alerted and reached the scene, and the body was sent for post-mortem, he said.
G S Paikra, the Forest Range Officer of Kudmura, said that immediate assistance of Rs 25,000 was provided to Pinki Devi, the deceased's wife.
Further legal formalities are underway to provide the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh as per government norms, he added.
The forest department appealed to villagers to remain alert and avoid venturing alone into agricultural fields or procurement centers due to the continued movement of wild elephants in the area.
