ROURKELA: A minor boy Biswanath Munda (10) was trampled to death and his mother and younger sister escaped narrowly when elephants attacked their mud house at Ambarudi village under Banki range of Rourkela Forest Division (RFD) in Sundargah district on Wednesday night.
Rourkela Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Dilip Sahu said the incident occurred at about 9 pm when a herd of eight elephants surrounded their mud house near Karamdihi forest. Two elephants attacked the mud house from two sides when a widow Tulasi Munda (35), her son and five-year-old daughter were sleeping. The woman with her daughter ran to safety, while her son unknowingly ran towards an elephant and was trampled to death. He said Ambarudi village has no past history of elephant attacks. The herd is holed up in Karamdihi forest and elephant squad members have been directed to drive away the elephants deeper into the forest.
Rourkela DFO Sanjay Swain said an interim relief of `10,000 was given to the bereaved family and remaining compensation amount of `3.80 lakh would be given soon.In the last seven months, 13 persons have died in elephant attacks under RFD jurisdiction. Compared to RFD limits, human casualties in Sundargarh Forest Division (SFD) and Bonai Forest Division (BFD) are negligible. Sundargarh DFO AK Mishra said two human deaths have been reported in January and June in SFD, while Bonai ACF NJPS Singh said there is no incident of human casualty due to elephant attacks in BFD this year.