MP: Villagers pelt stones on forest officials after elephant kills one

An elephant killed a person in the Gobri village of the Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh.

Enraged and outraged, the villagers attack the officials present at the spot.

An unknown person also opened fire, in which two villagers were shot and are being treated at Shahdol Medical College, while the injured police personnel are being treated at Anuppur District Hospital.

Shraddha Pandre (DFO, Annupur) told ANI that the elephant had been roaming in the forest for many days. Meanwhile, the elephant attacked the people who came to drive it away. One person has died in this accident.

"The angry villagers also attacked our caretakers, after which the police were called. We have also heard the news of a firing. Police will investigate this but we have not opened any fire because our guns are kept in the police station," she said.

Jitendra Singh Panwar, SP Annupur, said that the police are taking cognizance of this incident, and the priority is to recover the body of the person killed in the incident.

LL Uike (Chief Conservator of Forests, Bhandavgarh Forest) said, "For the last month, a group of three elephants was roaming in Annupur district and many incidents were happening. Tomorrow, after getting permission from above, the elephant will be tranquilized and shifted somewhere else."

Ashish Washisht, Collector of Annupur, said that there is a process to tranquilize wild animals for which we have to get permission from the Government of India. Tomorrow, we will do this rescue operation.

DC Sagar (ADGP, Shahdol Zone) told ANI, "The incident is very sad. All the officials are taking action on this. That elephant is present there so we are not able to recover the body. Three people were injured in the firing and are undergoing treatment. To find out who did this firing, a SIT has been immediately formed, which will investigate it completely. If the police's fault is found, action will be taken." (ANI)