A 45-year-old constable of the state police was trampled to death by a wild elephant on the courtyard of his village home in Alipurduar district early on Sunday.
Sources said Shintu Tigga, who is from Dakshin Latabari village under Kalchini police station of Alipurduar district, had been posted in Darjeeling.
On Saturday, Tigga had come to his village home on leave.
Around 3am, while Tigga was sleeping with his brother Pintu, they heard some noise outside.
Soon, a portion of a coconut tree fell on the roof of their room with a thud.
The two brothers ran out and reached their courtyard.
As Shintu switched on a torch, they saw a wild tusker standing in the courtyard. Seeing the sudden light, the elephant grew enraged and gave the two brothers a chase.
The brothers ran to save themselves.
While Pintu was successful in getting out of the reach of the elephant, Shintu was unfortunate.
He stumbled and fell on the ground.
The elephant trampled him to death and walked out of the village.
Foresters were informed and a team from the Nimati forest range of the Buxa Tiger Reserve reached the spot. They recovered the constable’s body and it was sent for post-mortem to Alipurduar district hospital.
As the news spread, hundreds of neighbours gathered at the spot and mourned Tigga’s death.
They demanded regular patrolling of the forest staff in the area so that such incidents could be averted in the future.
Foresters said the elephant had strayed into the village from the neighbouring
Nimati forest.
The forest department will pay a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the bereaved policeman’s family, a senior forester said.
Senior police officers condoled Shintu’s death.
“It is unfortunate. We will extend all possible help to his family,” said Y. Raghuvamshi, the Alipurduar superintendent of police.