ROURKELA: A 56-year-old man was reportedly trampled to death by a wild elephant at Sukura village in Theteiposh panchayat under Bisra police limits of Rourkela forest division in Sundargarh district on Tuesday morning.
The deceased was identified as Anand Prakash Kharia. The incident took place at around 5 am.
Sources said Kharia had gone to a field near Sukura village to answer nature’s call. Due to poor visibility, he could not spot six elephants present nearby. One of the elephants attacked Kharia and and trampled him. On hearing his screams for help, other villagers rushed to the spot and managed to chase away the elephants. However, Kharia died before he could be shifted to the nearby hospital.
On being informed, forest personnel of Bisra range reached the village and handed over Kharia’s body to the local police. Bisra IIC Manoranjan Kumbhar said an unnatural death case was registered in this connection and the body sent to hospital for autopsy.
Meanwhile, Kharia’s death sparked tension in Sukura with villagers expressing resentment over frequent intrusion of wild elephants into human habitations in the area.
They accused the forest authorities of doing nothing to protect them. The villagers said the forest authorities should take necessary safety measures and send them timely alerts about presence of elephants in the area.