Man trampled to death in human-elephant conflict along Assam-Meghalaya border

A man was tragically killed in a human-elephant conflict along the Assam-Meghalaya border late Wednesday night, triggering public outrage over alleged inaction by the forest department.

The incident occurred in Mauchuwa village under the Bondapara Forest Range of the West Kamrup Division, where a herd of wild elephants reportedly entered the village in search of food. According to locals, 48-year-old Kumud Rabha was attacked and killed on the spot when villagers attempted to drive the herd away.

Police and forest officials arrived later and recovered the body, which was sent to GMCH for postmortem examination on Thursday.

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Angry villagers alleged that despite repeated alerts over the past month, the forest department failed to take timely steps to mitigate the threat. “More than 40 wild elephants, including calves, have been roaming in the area, destroying banana plantations and entering villages. Yet, no effective action has been taken by the Bondapara Forest Range or the DFO,” said a resident who preferred to remain anonymous.

Repeated attempts to contact West Kamrup DFO Subodh Talukdar for a response went unanswered.

The tragic incident has once again highlighted the growing danger of human-elephant conflicts in Assam’s forest fringe areas, raising urgent calls for proactive intervention and long-term mitigation strategies.