Policeman trampled to death by wild elephant in Arunachal

Itanagar, Feb 22 (PTI) An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Arunachal Pradesh Police was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Lohit district, a senior officer said on Sunday.

ASI Martin Lego (40) of Sunpura police station, along with two friends, had gone to the Lohit riverbank for an outing on Saturday morning.

Around 10.30 am, they encountered the elephant, and while his friends succeeded in escaping, Lego was trampled to death by the pachyderm, Lohit Superintendent of Police (SP) Thutan Jamba said.

An unnatural death case has been registered at Sunpura police station and the body, after the conduct of a post-mortem examination, handed over to his family for the last rites, the SP said.

No incident of elephant attack was reported in Sunpura area in the past, the officer said.

Jamba said he has spoken to the DC for issuance of advisory asking villagers to avoid venturing into forested or riverine areas as a precautionary measure.

The forest department has also said that efforts will be initiated to locate and capture the elephant, the SP said, adding that the animal might have been injured, which could have triggered its aggressive behaviour. PTI UPL UPL ACD