PATNA, India: Indian wildlife officers are hunting a rampaging wild elephant blamed for killing at least 20 people and injuring 15 others in the forests of Jharkhand, villagers and officials said on Tuesday.
The elephant, a lone bull, is reported to have gone on the rampage for nine days beginning in early January, creating panic in the rural West Singhbhum district.
“We are trying to trace and rescue this violent wild elephant that killed so many people,” government forest officer Aditya Narayan told AFP, confirming the toll of 20 dead.
Children and the elderly are among the dead, as well as a professional elephant handler, known as a mahout. But after wreaking a trail of destruction, it had not been spotted since Friday, despite multiple patrols in the area.
