Elephant Tramples 100-Year-Old Priest to Death in UP

Bahraich: A wild elephant trampled a priest believed to be over 100 years old to death inside the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district on Sunday night, forest officials said.

The deceased was identified as Baba Suresh Das, a resident of Hazaripurwa village under the Sujauli Police Station limits. According to officials, he had been visiting a small temple near a forest guard outpost in the Katiyara beat of the tiger reserve for the past five to six decades. He would sometimes stay overnight at the hut-like temple, locally known as ‘Katiyara Kuti’.

On Sunday around 8.05 pm, a wild elephant attacked the priest during his night stay at the temple. Forest officials said an inspection of the site found clear elephant footprints and dung in the area, confirming the animal’s presence. The body bore deep wounds and severe injuries to the legs and other parts.

This is the second elephant-related death in the sanctuary in about 30 hours. On Saturday evening, a 45-year-old woman from Lakhimpur was killed and her two sons were seriously injured when a wild tusker attacked them on the Mihinpurwa–Lakhimpur Road.

Local residents say wild elephants often stray into residential areas, damage crops and attack people. They claim that despite repeated incidents, adequate preventive steps have not been taken.

Forest authorities have appealed to people to remain alert and said patrolling in the affected areas has been intensified.