ROURKELA: A villager Isaq Minz (55) was killed in the wee hours of Friday by a herd of elephants at Kadopani village under Birmitrapur range taking the human casualties due to jumbo attacks to six under Rourkela Forest Division (RFD) limits. This is the seventh death in Sundargarh district in the last 40 days.
Sources said the first human casualty of the year was reported on January 1 after a woman was trampled to death by an elephant in Sundargarh Forest Division. Six deaths have been reported so far within RFD limits. A herd of seven elephants alone has claimed five human lives from January 3 to 31.
Rourkela Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjay Kumar Swain said a herd of 16 elephants strayed from Jharkhand forest into the bordering Kadopani village in Nuagaon block at about 3 am and trampled Minz to death. This herd was earlier moving in forests of Birmitrapur and Bisra ranges of RFD. The elephants were driven back to Jharkhand forest a few days ago. But, all of a sudden, it returned to RFD limits, he added.