Three people killed in as many conflicts with elephants in Assam

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Six people have been killed in such conflicts in the State in about a fortnight. File image for representation | Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar

Three people were killed in separate incidents of conflict with elephants in north-central Assam’s Sonitpur and central Assam’s Karbi Anglong districts on Tuesday (September 22, 2026).

The two incidents in Sonitpur district were reported from the Dhekiajuli area, about 130 km northeast of Guwahati. The Karbi Anglong incident occurred in a village about 230 km east of Guwahati.

The deceased in Sonitpur district were identified as Rahmat Ali of No. 2 Pirakata village and Ganesh Toppo of Ratanjuli village. The Karbi Anglong victim was identified as Ambika Tokbipi, a woman.

The incidents occurred between 4 a.m. and 7.30 a.m.

Locals said Ali was at home, engaged in household work, when a wild elephant emerged from a nearby forest and damaged his house at around 5.30 a.m. Toppo came across the same elephant in a neighbouring village and died trying to shield his two children.

The two children, aged five and seven years, sustained injuries.

Wildlife officials said six people have been killed in such conflicts in Assam in about a fortnight. Two of the other three were killed in western Assam’s Goalpara district and one in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district.

Policeman Amzad Ali was killed on September 6 after a wild elephant raided the 17th Assam Police Battalion camp in Goalpara’s Dakurbhita. Umakanta Moran, a 39-year-old farmer, was trampled to death near Digboi in Tinsukia district on September 7. Another person died similarly in Goalpara district on September 14.

Assam’s Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah told the 126-member Assembly in July that about 150 people lose their lives in human-elephant conflicts across the State every year.

According to official data, 1,147 people have been killed in human-elephant conflicts since 2016, with 138 deaths reported in 2025.

A few weeks ago, the government announced a two-pronged strategy to address such conflicts, combining faster compensation for victims’ families with long-term measures to reduce encounters with wild elephants.

The strategy entails providing ₹6 lakh as ex-gratia to the kin of people killed in human-elephant conflicts within 72 hours of the death.

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