An 18-year-old youth was killed and two others injured on Monday when they came in contact with a live electric wire at Sessa Nagaon village in Madhupur area in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district.
The deceased was identified as Samar Moran of Sessa Nagaon village.
Sources said when Samar Moran when had gone to the paddy field for some works, he came in contact with the live wire which was meant to fend elephant depredation.
Two youths–Diganta Dehingia and Mridul Changmai– were injured when they tried to save Samar from electrocution.
On Saturday, two wild elephants were found dead in a paddy field at Sessa Nagaon village in Madhupur area.
It is suspected that the wild elephants may have come in touch with electric wires that were laid by farmers around their paddy fields to stop elephant from rampaging their crops.
Officer in charge of Barbaruah police station Monuj Boruah said one person was killed after coming in contact with live wire at Sessa Nagaon village.
“We have sent the body for post mortem at Assam Medical College and Hospital. We are investigating the matter,” he said.
According to sources many wild elephants have died so far in the area after having contact with live electric wire.
The forest department have filed many FIR against the killing of the wild elephants but no such steps have been taken.
Sources said for past few days around 35-40 pachyderms from the nearby Dehing-Medela reserve forest which has been causing havoc in the area raiding paddy fields and granaries.
Earlier also there have been instances of people laying live wire traps in their paddy fields by tapping into power from high tension wires to ward off the rampaging jumbos.
In 2005, the US Fish and Wildlife Service sanctioned Rs 5.3 lakh under the Asian Elephant Welfare Fund for construction of a three-strand electric powered fence along Dehing Medela reserve forest to check elephant depredation in the area but now elephants easily move into the village as the fence was damaged a few years ago.