Barhi and Barkagaon blocks of Hazaribagh district are immersed in sorrow because of two unexpected tragedies that took place on Thursday. In Barhi, a four-year-old boy was crushed to death by a tractor in a field where his parents were busy working, while in the other block ‑ a 28-year-old was trampled by a herd of elephants after he walked into the forest to take a shortcut to his home. He had been alerted by the elders about the elephants, but he chose to ignore the warnings.

The first tragedy took place in Sehda village, which falls under the Gondalpura panchayat of Barkagaon block. A small mistake of Jago Ganjhu(28) cost him his life. Jago was returning from a local market, when he chose to take the short cut route to his home, despite being alerted by the village elders about the elephants in the forest. But Jago chose to ignore their warnings and walked into the forest, where he was trampled to death by the elephants. With severed limbs, a badly crushed torso, his dead body was beyond recognition. At the break of dawn, the villagers managed to reach the spot.

A total of 32 elephants including four calves have unleashed a reign of terror in Barkagaon for the last one week.

Villagers maintained that their life had become miserable due to this herd of wild elephants which has so far damaged dozens of houses in six villages. They have also demanded compensation for Jago’s dependants and also individuals whose houses and crops have been damaged.

Forest officials said that a team of experts have been called from Bankura district of West Bengal to chase the elephants away.

Tractor crushes a minor on field

In another incident, four-year-old Rocky Kumar was crushed to death by a tractor, while he was playing on the field, in Shahpur village, which falls under Barhi police station of the Dulmaha panchayat area.

Victim Rocky Kumar Vishvendu Jaipuriar

The incident took place in the afternoon when his parents and other relatives were busy in cultivation work in a nearby field. Around the same time, the tractor was engaged by the owner of a nearby field. According to eyewitnesses, the tractor driver, Mohit Pandit, after completing his work, failed to notice Rocky playing there and crushed him to death. Rocky’s grandmother Kalawati Devi has written to the police to file an FIR against Mohit, demanding swift action. Police officials maintained that they have initiated the process to lodge the FIR and start an investigation.