Administrator
18 July 2025
*Representational image newsmen.in
Three elephants, including a calf, were hit by a train on the railway tracks between Jhargram and Banstala railway station in southern Bengal in the wee hours of Friday (July 18).
Umar Imam, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Jhargram, he had notified the railway officials about the usual elephant movement near the tracks at 10.56 pm on Thursday (July 17), and the accident occurred within 3 hours of the notification at around 1.45 am.
The DFO also said that he is taking every action in his power to hold the people accountable for the death of the three elephants, which included a calf and mother, and a semi-adult.
He visited the accident site immediately after the tragedy struck. The bodies of the elephants were removed in the next few hours.
According to the railway official of the Southeastern Railway division, Soma Das the elephants were hit by the Barbil Howrah Jansatabdi Express (12022) and trains services were disrupted in this area for about 3 hours.
However, DFO Jhargram stated that there were blood marks on two tracks and the bodies of the elephants were lying hundreds of metres apart, which has led him to suspect that there may be more than one train involved in the accident.
