ANGUL: A forest squad member was reportedly killed by an elephant while attempting to drive away a herd from Dandadhar Sahi village under Jarapara forest range in Angul block in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Jugal Naik (40), a resident of Katada village. He was part of a four-member forest squad deployed to drive away an elephant herd nearing Dandadhar Sahi.
Jarapara ranger Madhab Naik said at around 3 am, the forest team rushed to Dandadhar Sahi upon receiving information about a herd of eight elephants moving towards the village. While three members of the squad proceeded to drive the herd away, Jugal remained on the outskirts of the village.
All of a sudden, he came face-to-face with a female elephant accompanied by a calf. The elephant trampled him to death before retreating into the forest. His body was later discovered by his team members, who alerted senior forest officials.
“Jugal lost his life while performing his duty. As he was a contractual worker, all due benefits will be provided to his family as per government norms,” the ranger said.
Following the incident, agitated villagers initially refused to allow the body to be taken for postmortem, demanding `50 lakh compensation. The protest was later called off after intervention by police and forest officials, who assured the family that `10 lakh compensation would be provided as per government provision.