GUWAHATI: A freight train, which was allegedly travelling at a high speed, mowed down an elephant calf, at Gogamukh in upper Assam’s Lakhimpur district on Saturday night. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has started a departmental probe into the matter while the state department has launched a probe into the incident. The forest department has registered a case regarding the matter.
Chief public relations officer of NFR Subhanan Chanda told TOI that the incident took place on Saturday night when a herd of wild elephants was crossing the railway tracks between Baghjan and Sarkarijan. “The herd was moving from Dullung Reserve Forest under Pathalipam Forest Beat towards the hills of Arunachal Pradesh. They were moving within the elephant range and got hit by the train which was coming from Silapathar to Rangia. We have initiated investigation and a case has been registered,” Dibakar Dey, DFO Lakhimpur, told TOI.