DHENKANAL: A 40-year-old man was killed and his mother grievously injured after being attacked by an elephant near Lambodarpur village under the Dhenkanal Sadar forest range late on Tuesday night.
The deceased was identified as Suryamani Biswal. His mother Kalabati is being treated at the SCB Medical College and Hospital (MCH) in Cuttack with critical injuries.
Divisional forest officer Sumit Kar said the mother-son duo had gone to the forest to attend nature’s call when they were attacked by the lone tusker roaming in the area. While Suryamani died on the spot, his mother received serious injuries.
“On being informed, forest officials reached the spot and took the injured to the Dhenkanal district headquarters hospital (DHH) from where she was later shifted to SCB MCH as her condition worsened. However, her condition is currently stable,” he said adding, patrolling activities have been intensified in the area after the mishap.
Meanwhile, the incident sparked tension among the villagers who threatened of staging road blockade on the Dhenkanal Bhapur road if the tusker wasn’t chased away from the area. They also demanded that solar fences be erected in vulnerable areas to prevent incidents of elephant attacks. The forest officials assured them of fulfilling their demands soon.