Around 4.50am, a herd of 14 elephants was crossing the tracks when the Bhagalpur-Ranchi-Hatia Express hit the elephant duo from behind, the impact felling the calf on the main line and hurtling the mother on the loop line 3km from Gautamdhara station. The carcass of the calf was removed by 7.20am to restore movement of trains, but the burial of the duo, near Gautamdhara station, got over by 3pm.

According to range officer of Angara-Silli region R.K. Singh, who rushed for preliminary probe around 6am, the herd was on its way from Jonha to Komandih in Ranchi district. The elephants had crossed the main line safely when they found a goods train standing on another track parallel to it. Forced to return, the train hit the two when they were crossing the main line the second time.

"The mother elephant was trying to help her calf cross the tracks when the train hit them from behind," Singh said.

About 30 to 35 elephants live in Angara, Silli, Sikidiri and Burmu, all in Ranchi district and interconnected with each other. From these four pockets, it is an established pattern that herds go to Purulia in Bengal and return.

But, the ignorance of the forest and railway authorities on elephant migration on the Jharkhand-Bengal corridor so near the capital has thrown up uncomfortable questions on the safety of the endangered Elephas maximus species that no one seems prepared for.

The lack of sync was apparent from the start. Range officer Singh was informed about the mishap by villagers and not the railways. Forest department trackers, ideally required to keep tabs on elephant movement and coordinate with railways, don't exist due to manpower crunch. At the same time, trains run at 95kmph on the route despite it being a well established elephant corridor.

Prodded, a divisional manager-ranked official of Ranchi railway division under South Eastern Railway put the blame squarely on Ranchi forest officials.

"Such incidents never occurred before on our route, especially in Angara. Had we been alerted about elephant movement beforehand, we could have easily minimised the speed of the train or put in place other mandatory precautions. This is a sensitive issue and we are concerned about the safety of elephants," he said.

Ranchi divisional forest officer (DFO) Rajiv LochanBakshi, on his part, tried to buy time, saying he was yet to get a detailed report from the spot when The Telegraph sought his views this afternoon. Terming the incident as "unfortunate", he said they would issue directives to the railways to ensure trains cut down speed to 40kmph on the stretch and blow long horns/whistles from today till "permanent arrangements" were made.

Asked what the stretch immediately needed, Angara-Silli range officer Singh said trackers to keep tabs on elephants were a must. But, the entire forest department was reeling under a severe manpower crunch.

"We will follow whatever guidelines the forest department issues as we want to avoid such incidents in the future," said senior Ranchi railway divisional manager (commercial) Niraj Kumar.

This is not the first time that trains have mowed down elephants in Jharkhand. Three years ago, a Delhi-bound Duronto Express hit an adult female elephant between Gomoh and Matari, 35km from Dhanbad. In 2011, a three-year-old elephant calf was fatally hit by a speeding goods train on tracks that cut through Palamau Tiger Reserve in Palamau. In 2008-09, a south-bound passenger train killed two elephants in Saranda after which about a dozen elephants had laid siege on trains near Manoharpur.