BARIPADA: Panic gripped the Karanjia area after a tusker pulled down the house of a local resident and trampled his five-year-old son to death on Thursday night.
The child and his father were asleep when the incident took place at Neduapal village under the Karanjia forest division. The child was identified as Purnachandra Laguni, son of Bharat Laguni.
At around 3 am, the tusker entered the village in search of food. It reached Bharat’s house while the family was asleep, pulled down the structure and trampled the child to death. Bharat and his wife Saraswati narrowly escaped and ran to a neighbour’s house for safety.
Karanjia police rushed to the spot and seized the child’s body. An unnatural death case was registered.
Forest officials from Karanjia also reached the spot and took stock of the situation. However, villagers blamed the Forest department for failing to keep a watch on elephant movement. They demanded regular patrolling and tracking of elephants in the area. Forest officials said compensation would be provided to the bereaved family.