A vegetable dealer was trampled to death by an elephant in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district, police said on Monday, marking another fatal incident linked to human–wildlife conflict in the region.
The incident occurred late on Sunday near Simrabeda Mahto Tola under the Mahuadanr police station area, when the man encountered the elephant while returning home, a police officer said.
“The man was on his way home when he encountered an elephant at Kander. Locals claimed that the man was carrying vegetables in the four-wheeler. The jumbo encircled him with its trunk and brought him out of the vehicle and then trampled him to death,” Bokaro divisional forest officer Sandeep Sinde said.
Forest officials and police later reached the spot following reports from local residents. The incident has heightened concerns among villagers over frequent elephant movement in forest-adjacent areas of the district.
The DFO suspected that the door of the vehicle was open when the elephant attacked him.