Man crushed to death by elephant on Rishikesh-Neelkanth Road

By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 22 Feb: A man was crushed to death by a wild tusker near Phoolchatti on the Lakshmanjhula-Neelkanth Road early morning today. This area falls under the Gauhari range of Rajaji Tiger Reserve Park. Three kuchha shops built on the road were also destroyed by the tusker who was in a state of rage. In addition, it was learnt that the elephant had also attacked a car parked there. The driver who was sleeping in the car at that time had a narrow escape. He somehow managed to save himself by hiding inside the car. The person killed by the rogue elephant was identified as Kapil Kumar who was a resident of Nagina town of District Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh.
On the Lakshmanjhula-Neelkanth road, a tusker elephant reached Phoolchatti in a state of anger and attacked a Tempo Traveller parked there and tried to overturn it. The driver was asleep in the Tempo Traveller. The elephant broke the glass window of the vehicle and tried to pull the driver out. But the driver somehow managed to save his life by hiding inside the vehicle. The angry elephant then proceeded to destroy the kuccha shops along the road. The shops belonged to Narendra Bhandari, Sohan Singh Bhandari and Shripal Negi. Meanwhile, a person present on the spot was trampled to death by the elephant. Elephants remained in a state of rage on the location for over an hour before moving away. On receiving information, the police officials from the Lakshman Jhula Police Station and the forest personnel from the Gauhari range of Rajaji Tiger Reserve reached the spot. The body of the person killed by the elephant was taken by the police and sent to AIIMS Rishikesh mortuary.
According to the police, Kapil Kumar son of Sher Singh, and a resident of village Baral near Nagina town of district Bijnore was the one to die in the elephant attack and he was identified on the basis of his Aadhaar Card. According to the locals, this place is not very much frequented by wild elephants.