Man killed in elephant attack, villagers block road in protest

Raipur: A 28-year-old man was trampled to dead after being trampled by a wild elephant near Kotbahra village on the Surajpur–Sarguja district border on Wednesday night, sparking protests by villagers on Thursday morning.The victim, identified as Keshav, was returning home from work when the incident occurred. According to residents, poor visibility due to darkness prevented him from noticing the elephant on the route. As he approached, the animal chased him, struck him with its trunk, and fatally crushed him.Forest and local authorities reached the scene later that night and recovered the body, which was sent for postmortem after necessary formalities.On Thursday morning, angry villagers staged a road blockade at Kalyanpur on the Ambikapur–Pratappur main road, placing the body on the road and demanding accountability from the forest department. The protest disrupted traffic for about an hour before officials, including Surajpur SDM Shivani Jaiswal, intervened and pacified the situation.Forest officials stated that the elephant involved had separated from a herd of seven moving through the Semai area of Pratappur. While six elephants damaged crops in Rameshwarpur, one strayed toward Kotbahra.The incident highlights the increasing human-elephant conflict in north Chhattisgarh, especially in villages near forest areas. Locals claimed they had not been warned about the elephant's presence.Pratappur SDO Forest Sanskriti Barle said teams were monitoring elephant movement and advising people not to enter forested stretches.