A pregnant wild elephant was mowed down by a goods train that was passing through the Chapramari forest in the Dooars on Thursday early morning.

The abdomen of the elephant was ripped open and the full-grown foetus fell out. It also died on the spot.

Senior officials of Northeast Frontier Railway and the state forest department have visited the spot. The foresters have said the goods train was running at high speed.

Sources said the freight train laden with dolomite was heading towards Siliguri when it rammed into the elephant that was crossing the tracks in the Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri around 2.30am.

The 168km-long Dooars tracks connect Alipurduar Junction with Siliguri Junction and pass through several wildlife sanctuaries.

“The incident occurred between railway pillars 68/3 and 68/4 inside the reserve forest. After the incident, railway traffic was stopped along the route for around eight hours,” said a source.

Rajendra Jakhar, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife), reached the spot. He said wild elephants had been run over by trains on the Dooars tracks before also.

“Considering such incidents, we had requested the railways not to run goods trains along the route at night. It is evident that the train was at high speed and some railway slippers were damaged in the incident,” he said.

The forester said the railways had not yet installed any sensor along the stretch where the incident had occurred on Thursday early morning to monitor the movement of wild animals near the tracks. “We have put up signboards, mentioning it is an elephant crossing zone. Our department alone can’t monitor the entire stretch of the tracks. The railways, too, have a responsibility,” added Jakhar.

The foetus’s carcass, he said, suggests the mother elephant was to have delivered it in a couple of days.

The carcasses were removed from the tracks and autopsies conducted by the veterinarians engaged by the forest department. The railways cleared the route and the train traffic resumed around 10am.

Ever since the Dooars tracks were converted into broad gauge from meter gauge in 2002, around 70 wild elephants were run over by trains.

Raja Rauth, the secretary of the Jalpaiguri Science and Nature Club, said the railways should stop running goods trains from dusk to dawn.

“They shouldn’t run goods trains from 6pm to 6am. If required, the alternative route (New Alipurduar-Falakata-New Jalpaiguri) can be used for freight trains. For passenger trains, the railways should stipulate a maximum speed of 40km per hour,” he said.

Ashok Kumar Dey, the senior divisional manager of Alipurduar, said the railways were conducting an inquiry into the incident.

“The goods train was running at 30kmph. Even then, the incident happened. We are probing the case and checking out whether there were any lapses on the part of the loco pilot,” he said.