Candidate killed in elephant attack on way to WBBSE secondary exam center

A secondary examinee was killed in an elephant attack on Thursday on the first day of Class 10 board exams in West Bengal’s Maharajghat. Arjun Das was on a bike being driven by his father when the elephant suddenly broke away from its herd in the Baikunthpur forest and attacked him.

The elephant pinned him to the ground and he was rushed to the Jalpaiguri Super Specialty Hospital after the animal left. Police said that doctors at the hospital declared the student brought dead.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was returning from Meghalaya, expressed grief over the death and urged the education department to arrange bus service for students living in forest areas to attend their board exams.

“I am deeply saddened by this incident. I have asked the education department to provide bus service to the students living in forest areas to reach their exam centers. Forest department and police administration should also help them in this matter .

Banerjee said authorities in Nepal and Bangladesh have successfully implemented methods to deal with elephant attacks, but Bengal and Jharkhand are yet to find ways to deal with them.

“Many such incidents are happening in Jharkhand and West Bengal and we are not able to deal with it,” he said.

Banerjee said Jalpaiguri District Magistrate Moumita Godara Basu and Siliguri Municipal Corporation Mayor Gautam Deb have been sent to meet the family members of the deceased student. Banerjee, who campaigned for her party in Meghalaya on Wednesday, reached Siliguri the same night. She had left for Kolkata on Thursday.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)