Assam : 2 Elephant Deaths Recorded Within 24 Hours

GUWAHATI : Adding to the mounting death toll of wild elephants in the state,  two wild elephants died in Assam- in Kamrup and Sonitpur districts, respectively, within 24 hours from Wednesday,. A male elephant died after getting hit by a moving train in Assam's Kamrup district. The incident occurred while the elephant was crossing the railway track on Tuesday night. 

The elephant was 12 year old and the train that hit him was travelling towards Dhubri. The episode took place around 11pm at Bamunpara Rangamati, an area 1km away from Rani station. As per a ranger of Loharghat forest in Kamrup district, Shamim Akhtar, it was the first ever accident case in the region.

He further said that wild elephant do not usually roam around in that area. Recently, four elephants moved out of the forest reserve in search of food and had been loitering in the region since then. The Rani reserve forest is located 7-8 km away from the place of incident.

However, it is suspected that the elephant was alone when the accident happened. The ranger while speaking to media shared that, the area is not known for wild elephants. The place has almost never seen any sort of jumbo movement until now.

The ranger informed media that the accident did not occur in the forest land, the site of incident comes under revenue land. Sample of the dead body has been sent to the forensic lab for a test, according to sources.

Northeast Frontier railway stated that the are where the episode took place is not a notified elephant corridor. Since there was no sign of elephant movement in the area and they were not informed about it, the speed of the train could not be decreased.

Another death of an elephant was reported in Sonitpur tea estate on Wednesday morning. The cause of death is not clear.

In a recent incident, a moving train hit a jumbo in Assam's Hojai district. The train was travelling through an elephant corridor when the accident happened. The Railway department was well informed by the forest department about jumbo movement in that region, as per sources.

The loco pilates escaped the scenario after the incident. An inquiry was initiated as to why the speed was not limited to 45km/hour, in spite of proper instruction.

 Also Read : Training programme on inquest held in Kamrup district

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