A 65-year-old man died in an elephant attack in a Jalpaiguri village on Tuesday morning, triggering protests in the area even as foresters reached the spot.

Some angry women demonstrators even tried to snatch the firearm of a forest guard.

Sources said Kulbahadur Thapa, a resident of Upper Kalabari village in Nagrakata block, had stepped out of his house when a wild elephant, which had strayed into the locality, chased him. Thapa tried to escape but the elephant wrapped him with its trunk and tossed him on the ground. Thapa died on the spot.

The animal then left. As the news spread, locals resorted to protests. “In the past 20 days, three people have lost their lives in our area over elephant attacks. Yet, the forest department has not done anything to prevent elephants from entering the village,” said a protester.

When a team from Nagrakata police station and foresters rushed to the spot, the protests intensified. Suddenly, some women tried to snatch the gun of a forest guard. Other foresters and villagers intervened to calm down the women, sources said.

After almost two hours, locals allowed the police to recover the body and sent it for post-mortem. "We will launch a movement if the forest department does nothing to prevent elephant depredation in our area," a villager said.

Gaur attack

A wild gaur (Indian bison) strayed into village Garkhunta in Dhupguri block of the district from Sonakhali forest on Tuesday and gored with its horns Nabakanta Roy, 65, who had taken his cattle to a field for grazing. His screams alerted others who took him to the rural hospital in Dhupguri. The gaur, sources said, went back to the forest.