KENDRAPARA: A father-son duo was seriously injured on Friday night after coming in contact with a live wire allegedly laid by poachers to kill spotted deer and wild boars in the mangrove forest near Panikhia village within Bhitarkanika National Park of Kendrapara district.
Sources said, some poachers on Friday night laid live electric wire in the nearby forest to kill the animals. That night 40-year-old Ranjit Mondal and his 17-year-old son Gourang Mandal got to know that a bull entered their paddy fields. As the two rushed to their field to prevent the bull from damaging paddy saplings, they were hit by an electric shock. After hearing their cries, some locals rushed to the spot and rescued them after disconnecting power from the wires. However, the bull was electrocuted and died.
Both the father and the son are undergoing treatment at the community health centre (CHC) in Mahakalapada.
“After knowing about the incident, forest officials rushed to the spot and seized the electric wires on Saturday. We will soon arrest all the persons who laid wires,” said the divisional forest officer (DFO) of Bhitarkanika national park, Sudarshan Gopinath Yadav.