Elephant which killed two farmers in Telangana arrives in Maharashtra again

Elephant named ME3, which drifted towards Telangana and killed two farmers within a week in April, is currently moving in the forests bordering Gadchiroli district of neighboring Maharashtra

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: An elephant named ME3, which drifted towards Telangana and killed two farmers within a week in April last, is currently moving in the forests bordering Gadchiroli district of neighboring Maharashtra.

The elephant again came back to Wadsa division in Gadchiroli district from neighboring Chhattisgarh in search of habitation three-four days back. Forest officials sounded alert over the movement of the tusker. They were taking support of a voluntary organisation, Stripes and Green Earth Foundation (SAGE), a Kolkata based NGO in handling the elephant. They requested the public to be cautious of movement of the tusker.

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“ME3 has been on a migration for quite a long time. It might re-enter Telangana as it wandered the region once. However, its entry into the state depends on its mood and availability of food and water in Maharashtra. Elephants have outstanding memory power,” Sagnik Sengupta, founder of SAGE told ‘Telangana Today.’

Sources said that a herd of 27 pachyderms were presently residing in the wild of Maharashtra. The forest department of Maharashtra was monitoring the movement of the elephants by taking assistance from SAGE. The ME3 reportedly arrived in Maharashtra from eastern parts of Chhattisgarh following widespread mining activity.

When contacted, District Forest Officer Neeraj Kumar Tebriwal said that they received information about the movement of the tusker from their counterparts of Maharashtra. The elephant might join a herd of pachyderms if they accept it. However, forest officials were ready to tackle with available resources if it entered Telangana, he stated.

Elephant kills six humans since 2023

The jumbo killed four persons in Telangana and Maharashtra before returning to Chhattisgarh, in April. It then trampled a person to death in Chhattisgarh. It had already killed a person in Chhattisgarh in 2023. Raje Kopa Halami (50), one of the three women attacked by this elephant, breathed her last at the time of treatment at district general hospital in Chandrapur town on April 27.

The lone elephant attacked three women when they were returning from a temple at Hindur village in Arewada area in Bhamragad Forest division of Gadchiroli district on April 25. Gonglu Rama Telami (53) from Kier village in Bhamragad Taluq in this district on the same day.

Earlier, the unsolicited elephant drifted towards the wild of Telangana by crossing Pranahita river after getting separated from its herd after migrating to Maharashtra from Chhattisgarh. It trampled Alluri Shankar (50) at Burepalli village in Chintalamanepalli mandal before killing Karu Posham (65) at Kondapalli village in Penchikalpet mandal on April 3 and 4 respectively, panicking locals.

The district saw killing of humans by an elephant for the first time. However, it was later successfully diverted towards Maharashtra on April 6.