Jhargram, 18 July (H.S.) A tragic incident occurred in Jhargram district late at night, where three elephants—including one adult and two calves—were killed after being hit by a train. The accident took place around 1 AM near Bashtala when the Jan Shatabdi Express was en route from Jhargram to Kharagpur.

As per information, the elephants were crossing the railway tracks just past Bashtala station when the train struck them.

Senior officials from Forest Department and Railways rushed to the spot soon after the incident. Train services on the route were promptly suspended to facilitate the rescue operation.

Locals blamed the Forest Department for the repeated deaths of elephants in the area. They said the department has failed to deploy adequately trained members of Hula Party, teams assigned to prevent such incidents by guiding elephants away from railway tracks.

There was no official response from the Forest Department regarding their role till the time of filing of the news.

Forest Department sources revealed that a WhatsApp group exists between forest officials and railway authorities to share real-time alerts. An alert had reportedly been issued at around 11 PM the previous night, warning about potential elephant movement in the area. Despite this, train services on that route continued as usual.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey