A couple and their woman relative were trampled to death by wild elephants in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, officials said today.
The incident took place last night in Ghatbahara village under the Udaipur forest range, around 80km from Ambikapur district headquarters, Divisional Forest Officer (Surguja division) Priyanka Pandey said.
The deceased were identified as Sukul (65), his wife Sundari (52) and another woman of their family Kaushalya (40), she said.
On Friday morning, forest staff had told residents of Ghatbahara that a herd of wild elephants was roaming in the area and asked them to take precautions and stay alert.
Following the information, all the residents of Ghatbahara, except the three victims, had left their homes and shifted to nearby villages, the DFO said.
As per preliminary information, Sukul had stored home- made 'mahua' liquor at his house, the smell of which might have attracted the elephants to their home.
The trio came face-to-face with the elephants, which trampled them to death, Pandey added.
An instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 was given to the kin of each of the deceased, the official said.
Forest personnel have been directed to keep an eye on the movement of the pachyderms to avoid more attacks on people and damage to property, she added.
The thick forested northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur, Surajpur and Korea districts, is known for the incidents related to human- elephant conflict.
The region has witnessed several killing of tribals and widespread damages to houses and crops by rogue elephants in the past years.
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