A mother elephant turned violent after failing to save its calf from drowning in the Subarnarekha river and chased and killed two elderly villagers who were part of a crowd that had been watching the ordeal in Jhargram's Nayagram on Wednesday morning.

The elephant, trumpeting in despair after the death of the six-month-old calf, got agitated at the sight of the crowd and the cacophony the onlookers created. It charged at the crowd, lifted Ananda Jana, 73, and Sashadhar Mahato, 63, repeatedly with its trunk and hurled them to the ground before trampling them to death. Several residents said the water-filled ditch into which the calf fell had been created because of illegal sand mining.

Foresters in the Kharagpur division said a herd of 14 elephants, including two calves, had come from the Sankrail forest range in West Midnapore and was moving towards Nayagram's Chandbila forest range. While the herd was crossing the river, one of the calves fell into a ditch on the riverbed. As the other elephants moved ahead, the mother began to frantically search for the calf.

"Around 6am, we saw the elephant squatting on the bed of the river and desperately trying to drag out something. Thirty minutes or so later, we realised that its calf had fallen into a ditch. The elephant finally found the calf, pulled it out with its trunk and took it to a field on the bank of the river. When the mother realised that the calf was dead, it got agitated and began to trumpet. This drew over 100 villagers to the site," said a Nayagram resident who was among the first to spot the jumbo early in the morning.

As villagers started to gather on the field, some locals informed forest officials. A team of officials reached the site at 6.45am. But by then, the elephant had got more agitated at the sight of so many people and began to chase the crowd.

“The mother elephant was disturbed after losing its calf and as the crowd continued to shout, it turned angry and violent. Most of the villagers fled when the elephant started to chase them, but two elderly persons could not run fast enough and were caught by the animal,” said Shivanand Ram, the divisional forest officer of Kharagpur.

“According to the primary investigation, the baby elephant, a male aged around six months, died by drowning in the river. The post-mortem report will reveal the actual cause of death,” Ram added.

The deceased Jana and Mahato were residents of Deulbad village in Nayagram block.

After attacking the duo, the elephant turned its attention to the village road where it damaged a motorbike and tried to overturn a bus parked on the road.

Angry mother elephant on a rampage. Picture by Buddhadeb Bera

The foresters engaged a “hulla party” to monitor the movement of the elephant and drive it towards the dense Chandbila forest. A forest official said late on Wednesday evening that the mother elephant had been pushed into the forest and efforts were on to reunite it with the herd.

A forester said on the condition of anonymity that the preliminary investigation had revealed that the calf fell into a ditch on the Subarnarekha riverbed while trying to cross it.

“The other elephants crossed the river and entered the forest, but the mother elephant continued to search for her baby. Finally, she was able to find the calf, but by then it had died,” he added.

Residents claimed the ditches on the riverbed had been created due to illegal excavation of sand before monsoon.

“There are many ditches on the riverbed because of sand mining. The administration is aware of it but does nothing. The calf drowned in one of the ditches,” said a villager, requesting not to be identified.

A forest official said mother elephants were very protective. “Mother elephants are always careful and protective about their calves. It is not usual for a calf to drown while crossing the river with its mother. The reason behind the death of the calf will be looked into,” a forest official said.

Forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick said he had ordered a probe to find out whether there was any ditch on the riverbed because of sand mining.

“I know the entire incident. The deaths of two people, as well as of the baby elephant, are unfortunate. I have already ordered a probe to find out whether the ditch was created because of sand mining. If the investigation says so, we will lodge an FIR against those involved in mining,” Mallick told The Telegraph.

Jhargram in Jungle Mahal has witnessed a surge in human-animal conflict in the past year. A source said at least 30 people and four elephants had lost their lives over this period. The state government has taken multiple measures to tackle human-animal conflict in the four Jungle Mahal districts.

The Bengal government has a policy of paying a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and offering the job of a forest guard to a member of the family of a person killed in an elephant attack.