Siliguri, June 14: Binu Oraon, 35, was trampled to death and her five-year-old son Milon seriously injured by a herd of elephants.

The incident occurred at Dakshin Palashnagar in Champasari around midnight.

The 15-strong herd was drawn to the village by the smell of the ripe maize and vegetables growing in the fields. The herd returned to the neighbouring Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary after feasting on the crop and vegetables.

Unlike other such instances, Binu’s husband, Krishna, was not alone in his misery. CPM leaders Asok Bhattacharya and Shankar Malakar of the Congress, among others, visited his house today to enquire about the incident and offer their condolences.

They demanded that Krishna be given Rs 30,000 as compensation by the forest department at the earliest.

Though residents spoke of the leaders’ concern, they all dismissed it as a stray incident prompted by the approaching Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad poll. The leaders, however, said they had “no political motivation”.

“I came to console the victim’s family. We have always done that in the past and, in places where I have not been able to go personally, I have sent Anil Saha, our district secretariat member and erstwhile Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad sabhadhipati. Today’s visit is not an exception as people think and to read politics in it would be unfair,” said Bhattacharya, the district convener of the CPM and the urban development and municipal affairs minister.

Malakar, the district Congress president and AICC member, said the victim’s brother was a “friend”.

“The victim’s brother, Kendru, is a Congress worker. That is why we visited them and offered our condolences. Our visit has nothing to do with politics,” Malakar said.

Villagers, however, had more pressing worries than to think of why the leaders had visited Krishna.

Groups have been formed to guard the farmlands and vegetable plots against marauding herds, especially at night.

“We have also asked the local forest squad to post some guards here,” said Maitika Oraon, a former member of the local gram panchayat.

“The victim’s family will get a compensation of Rs 30,000, which is according to the state government rules. A part of it has been released and the remaining will be cleared after the post-mortem report,” said Raju Das, the divisional forest officer (wildlife division II).

Das said man-elephant conflict was a common occurrence in this belt since migratory elephants followed this route.

“This year alone there have been four deaths in Darjeeling district. Two of the people killed were forest department personnel,” Das said, adding that on an average there are around 70 to 80 elephant-related deaths in north Bengal.

“In Darjeeling district alone, around Rs 40 lakh to Rs 45 lakh is paid annually as compensation,” he said.