An elephant attacked villagers in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, killing 13 people in two days, said forest official Aditya Narayan on January 7, 2026. Four others were injured in separate attacks. The tusker trampled six people late Tuesday in Noamundi and Hatgamariah police station areas, including four family members. The day before, it killed seven people, three from one family, in Kolhan. Teams from West Bengal's Bankura are helping to drive the elephant back into the forest. Due to elephant movement, six pairs of trains on the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway were cancelled. BJP leader and former Chief Minister Madhu Koda criticized the Forest department for lacking lasting solutions. Visiting victims' families in Noamundi, he said, "the department used to distribute torches and firecrackers to Gram Samity members to drive away elephants, but this has stopped." He demanded government support for orphaned children and to cover their education expenses.