Human-elephant conflict: Three villagers trampled to death in Anuradhapura

By Dayaratne Embogama  

Increasing the death toll in the human-elephant conflict in the Anuradhapura district, three villagers- two of them in Eppawala and the other in Priyankaragama- had been trampled to death by wild elephants last morning. They had died at the scene.  

One victim Udaya Chandana (36), was a resident of Palugaswewa in Eppawala and a technical officer of the National Housing Authority.He was father of two children. The other victim, Disanayake Mudiyanselage Mangala Prasad (48), was a farmer of the area.  Investigations revealed that they were working in a paddy field under the Amukolewewa tank when a rogue elephant from the nearby jungle struck them.  Meanwhile a villager of Priyankaragama Kirihamige Ranga Dharmachandra (51) attending to his home garden crops had been trampled to death by a wild elephant. He was an employee of Anuradhapura teaching hospital. Eppawala and Priyankaragama police are conducting further investigations.