A farmer named Haji Umar Ali Mistry (60) was crushed to death by elephants while protecting his crops from wild elephants in Sherpur’s Nalitabari.
The incident took place at Batkuchi village of Poragaon Union of the upazila around 11 pm on Thursday (April 25). Deceased Umar Ali is the son of deceased Tamiz Uddin of that village. His relatives recovered the body of the deceased from the mountain slope late at night.
It is known that for the past 3 days, about 40/45 herds of wild elephants have been coming down to the Borodhan field planted on the hill slopes of Batkuchi village of Poragaon union of the upazila, eating the crops and trampling them. Even on Thursday night, the herd of elephants came to eat Boro paddy planted in Panar Khol hill of Batkuchi village.
At that time, the villagers of Umar Ali Mistrasih protested in that area by lighting torches and shouting calls to save their crops. At one point, when the herd of wild elephants retreated a little, Umar Ali started coming towards his home. On the way, the herd of elephants hiding in the mountains surrounded Umar Ali and crushed him to death on the spot.
Later that night, the relatives recovered Umar Ali’s body from the spot and brought it home. Madhutila Forest Range Officer of Mymensingh Forest Division Rafiqul Islam said, I visited the incident site after getting the information. The family of Umar Ali, who was crushed under the feet of an elephant, is being arranged by the Forest Department to pay compensation of Tk 3 lakh.
Confirming the matter, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Nalitabari Police Station Monirul Alam Bhuia said that the police have been sent to the spot and a status report has been prepared. Further legal action is also under process.
