Three people killed in as many conflicts with elephants in Assam

Three individuals lost their lives in separate incidents involving conflicts with elephants in Assam's Sonitpur and Karbi Anglong districts on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. The incidents occurred in the Dhekiajuli area of Sonitpur district, about 130 kilometers northeast of Guwahati, and in a village around 230 kilometers east of Guwahati in Karbi Anglong district.

The victims identified in Sonitpur were Rahmat Ali and Ganesh Toppo, while in Karbi Anglong, the deceased was Ambika Tokbipi. The incidents transpired between 4 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Locals reported that Ali was at home engaged in household chores when a wild elephant emerged from a nearby forest, damaging his house around 5:30 a.m. Toppo encountered the same elephant in a neighboring village and died while attempting to shield his two children.

The children, aged five and seven, sustained injuries. In the past fortnight, six people have been killed in such confrontations with elephants in Assam. Additionally, two other fatalities occurred in Goalpara district, one in Tinsukia district, and one policeman was killed in Goalpara on September 6. Assam's Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah informed the 126-member Assembly in July that approximately 150 people suffer losses in human-elephant conflicts annually in the state.

According to available data, 1,147 people have been killed in such conflicts since 2016, with 138 deaths reported in 2025. The government recently introduced a two-pronged strategy to tackle these conflicts, which includes swift compensation for victims' families and long-term measures to minimize encounters with wild elephants.

This strategy involves providing a ₹6 lakh ex-gratia payment to the families of individuals killed in human-elephant conflicts within 72 hours of their demise.