ROURKELA: Amid a rise in man-elephant conflicts in Bonai forest division of Sundargarh district, yet another person was killed by a tusker while he along with personnel of Forest department was trying to drive it away from his village.
Reports said the incident occurred at around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at Mundasahi hamlet of Kulkuta village within Tikayatpali police limits. Elephant squads of the Forest department were driving away the tusker when the victim Gobind Munda (33), unable to locate the pachyderm in the darkness came too close to it and was thrashed to death.
Bonai DFO Lalit Patra said the victim had ventured out of his house and was killed by the tusker. He said the tusker had entered Bonai range from a forest in adjacent Deogarh district recently and the animal’s movement was being closely monitored.
Tikayatpali police on Wednesday sent the body for autopsy.
Incidentally, amid continuing jumbo menace across Bonai forest division, at least seven persons have been killed in elephant attacks in last five months.
Sources said two other tuskers, one staying in Bonai range and the other in the Koida range, for the last several months have made lives miserable for locals. The two tuskers are believed to be responsible for most of the human deaths.
The tuskers move separately after sunset and frequently enter human habitations in Bonai and Koida ranges to damage crops on farms and attack houses.
Forest officials said drive is underway to chase away the elephants from the division.