SUNDARGARH:A seven-year-old boy, Navin Barsatia, was killed and his mother injured after an elephant attacked them while they were sitting in the courtyard of their house at Dhubendand village of Lefripara range on Friday morning.
The incident has spread panic among the villagers residing near the forests as the elephants are entering the villages, mainly in search of food. It is learnt that at least 20 elephants in three herds are present at different locations under Sundargarh Forest Division (SFD) limits. Three persons have been killed in elephant attacks since January this year under SFD limits.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Sundargarh, AK Mishra said the incident occurred around 6.30 am when an elephant attacked Barsatia. Mishra said the elephant went back deep into a forest nearby and a team comprising Assistant Conservator of Forest is taking stock of the situation.
The DFO said it is hard to predict the movement of elephants entering Sundargarh range from the forests of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. A day before the incident, one elephant was spotted about 20 km from here in Kurumkel Reserve Forest. It appeared to have reached the village in search of food.
Sources said of the three groups of elephants, two are present inside forests near Kiralaga and Beheramunda villages, the third is inside Dhanubans Reserve Forest.
The DFO said the villagers should not panic as the herds are at safe distance and elephant squads are tracking their movements.
Man trampled to death
Rayagada: One Tarunisena Bhata of Gudriguda village under Muniguda forest range of the district was trampled to death by an elephant on Friday. The incident occurred when Tarunisena went to the forest for collecting mangoes in the morning. Forest ranger, Muniguda, Manoranjan Swain said a herd of three elephants is roaming in the forest for the last several days and despite awareness, people are entering the area for collecting mangoes, leading to such incidents.