Elephant who strayed into Bengal village attacked with spiked rods and fireballs; dies

The practice is legally banned but was used in this case, and eventually caused the death of a female elephant.

An elephant in West Bengal's Jhargram reportedly died after it was attacked by 'hulla' groups who wanted to drive it out of the area. The incident was flagged by conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra in a post on X.

'Hulla' groups, as they are locally called, are tasked with chasing elephants away from farmlands and human settlements.

This group used spiked iron rods with a burning flame in a bid to drive away the elephant that had wandered into the village.

This practice is banned under the law, but was used in this case, eventually causing the death of the female elephant. Bindra alleged that the 'hulla' group was working with the full knowledge of the forest department, as per NDTV

The horrific video shows numerous men carrying rods with flaming tops in a bid to chase away the elephants that had entered the village. Another video shared by Bindra shows one of the elephants struck with a burning rod. The creature then falls to the ground.

The female elephant injured by the 'hulla' group was taken away by the forest officials after a delay of more than eight hours. The conservationist informed NDTV, that the elephant succumbed to her injuries.

The publication reported that six elephants, including two calves, had entered Raj College Colony on Thursday and broke some walls. On the same day, an elderly resident was killed after being attacked by another tusker from the herd.

On the same day, the forest department also tried to tranquilise another tusker from the herd, at the Dharampur football ground and shot at the animal with darts multiple times. However, later on, the forest department freed the animal but the elephant was unable to walk properly. There was no confirmation whether this was the same tusker that had killed the elderly man.