Two wild gaurs (Indian bison) strayed inside a village in Cooch Behar district, killing one person and injuring four others on Saturday morning.
Sources said that the incident occurred at Saheberhat village of Cooch Behar-I block, located around 12km from the district headquarters, around 7am.
The villagers first spotted the animals wandering in the maize plantation and damaging standing crops.
“The animals advanced towards the house of Biren Barman, located adjacent to the maize field. One of them gored Barman with its horns and hurled him into the air,” said a resident.
Forest guards attempt to tranquillise a bison in Cooch Behar on Saturday.
Forest guards attempt to tranquillise a bison in Cooch Behar on Saturday.
Main Uddin Chisti
In the subsequent melee, four other residents of the village sustained injuries, either when the bison attacked them, or when they fell while attempting to run away from the animals.
Barman was taken to the MJN Hospital in Cooch Behar, where doctors declared him dead, said a source.
The incident prompted police and foresters to rush to the spot.
“One person died and four villagers received injuries after they were attacked by the bison. All injured persons are admitted at a hospital in Cooch Behar,” Kumar Sani Raj, the police chief of Cooch Behar district, said.
The foresters suspected the animals strayed from the nearby Patlakhawa forest after wandering on the banks of the Torsha river.
Bijan Nath, the additional divisional forest officer of Cooch Behar, said that forest guard teams from Mathabhanga, Cooch Behar and Pundibari forest ranges rushed to the spot.
After some hours, the team managed to tranquillise the animals. Later, the animals were released into the Patlakhawa forest.
A forest official said that the department would provide Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the family of the deceased.
Parthapratim Roy, the chairman of North Bengal State Transport Corporation and a district Trinamul leader, visited the affected area on Saturday.
“The forest department will not only compensate the deceased’s family on Monday but also those who were injured or lost their crops,” Roy said.
