New Delhi: A two-year-old died due to misfiring by officials in Assam on Friday. The forest officials tried to open fire as a method of steering a herd of wild elephants away in the Boko village of Kamrup district in Assam.
The local forest department officials fired shots in the air to scare and disperse the herd. However, the bullets misfired and hit the child and the mother instead. Though the baby died instantly on her lap, the mother suffered severe bullet injuries.
The mother, identified as Malabika Daimary, was immediately admitted to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) in a critical condition.
The incident occurred when a herd of elephants came to feed on a paddy field in the village. Reports suggest that the local forest department personnel were deployed in the area after a wild elephant critically injured a local youth on Friday morning.
(Avya Mathur)
