A wild elephant that killed a 55-year-old woman in Chhattisgarh's Korba district a day ago, also trampled to death two women members of a family hours later, officials said on Friday.
Teams of forest and police departments have been keeping a tab on the movement of the tusker and engaged in chasing it away from human settlements, they said.
"The elephant was spotted roaming throughout on Thursday in villages near Kusmunda coal mine in Katghora forest division before it entered neighbouring Janjgir-Champa district at night," Divisional Forest Officer Katghora division Kumar Nishant said.
On Thursday night, two women members of a family - Teej Kunwar (60) and Surja Bai (40) - were attacked by the jumbo outside their mud house in Khairbhavna village when they were trying to escape after learning about the presence of the elephant, leading to their death on the spot, he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the jumbo had attacked Gayatri Rathore in Ralia village as she stepped out of her home for a morning walk, leaving her seriously injured. She later succumbed during treatment at a hospital in Korba, he said.
The pachyderm also trampled five cows and calves to death in Khodri village, he added.
All these villages are located close to each other.
The tusker is a part of a herd of eight elephants that had been roaming in Kartala forest range in the division. About three days ago, the tusker got separated from the herd and strayed into the villages, the DFO said.
The kin of each of the deceased were provided an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh each will be given after completing necessary formalities, the official added.
Nishant said the elephant apparently got irritated on seeing the crowd of people nearing around it so locals have been advised to stay away from the animal. Efforts are being made to send the elephant back to the forest safely.
The tusker has entered neighbouring Janjgir-Champa district and local villagers have been alerted about its movement, officials said.
Human-elephant conflicts in the state, particularly in the northern part, had been a major cause of concern for the last one decade. Gradually the menace has been spreading its footprint in some districts of the central region in the last few years.
The districts which have been facing the menace mainly are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Balod, Balrampur and Kanker.
According to the forest department, over 300 people were killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years.
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