Jumbo kills man on NH-37 in Morigaon

Guwahati: A man died when a wild elephant, which got separated from its herd, attacked him while he was travelling in a car from Guwahati to Tezpur on Saturday night. The incident took place on NH37 near Roumari village in Laharighat sub-division of Morigaon district.
The man, who has been identified as Debashish Bhattacharjee, sustained severe injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.
Sources said Bhattacharjee stopped his car and waited for the elephant to cross the highway. Disturbed by the headlight and car engine noise, the elephant charged towards it and damaged the bonnet and windshield with its trunk. It then attacked Bhattacharjee.
Bhaskar Deka, DFO (Nagaon) said, “For the last couple of days, an elephant herd, which came from Sonaikuchi Reserve Forest, has been moving about in the area in search of food. Their movement is very frequent during the harvesting period.”
He added, “Our forest patrolling team monitors elephants’ movement every single day. Normally, we track their movement between 6 pm and 7.30pm. But on Saturday, they crossed the highway at 5.30pm and attacked the vehicle around that time.”