Two Road Workers Killed In Elephant Attack Inside Chhattisgarh Tiger Reserve

Two labourers engaged in road construction work were killed in a wild elephant attack inside the Guru Ghasidas–Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh’s Manendragarh region on Sunday night, forest officials said on Monday.

The incident occurred near Devsil village when workers involved in building a road were resting after dinner. According to a senior forest official, the labourers had lit a fire and were resting at the site when a sudden elephant attack took place.

The tiger reserve spans across Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur (MCB), Korea, Surajpur and Balrampur districts , and the affected area falls under the MCB forest division. The road is being constructed between Ramgarh in Korea and Kotadol in MCB district .

“Around late night, while the workers were resting, an elephant suddenly reached the spot and attacked them,” the official said.

One worker, identified as Gaurav (22) , died on the spot. Another labourer, Amar Singh (35) , sustained serious injuries and later succumbed while being shifted to Sonhat Hospital in the early hours of Monday.

Forest department personnel from the tiger reserve rushed to the location after receiving information about the incident and shifted the bodies for post-mortem formalities.

Officials said an immediate compensation of ₹25,000 will be provided to the families of each deceased worker, while the remaining ₹5.75 lakh ex gratia will be released after completion of formal procedures.

Human–elephant conflict has been a persistent issue in northern Chhattisgarh for over a decade and has recently expanded to central districts as well. The worst-affected regions include Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Jashpur and Balrampur .

Forest officials also noted that more than 325 people have died in elephant attacks across the state in the last five years, highlighting the continuing challenge of wildlife–human coexistence in forest-adjacent infrastructure projects.