ANGUL: Two elderly men were trampled to death by tuskers in two separate incidents in Bantala and Angul Sadar forest ranges on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Dhulia Dehury (72) of Madhupur village in Bantala and Bholeswar Pradhan (75) of Chandanpur Purunagarh in Angul Sadar range.
Forest officials said the two men were killed after they ventured into forests early in the morning to collect mangoes without paying heed to the warning of local authorities.
Bantala ranger Prasanna Sahu said Dhulia and other villagers had gone to the forest near Madhupur to collect mangoes. Suddenly, they came face-to-face with a tusker. While others ran away from the spot, Dhulia failed to escape due his old age and was trampled to death.
On being informed, police reached the spot and seized the body for postmortem. Sahu said the Forest department has initially paid Rs 1 lakh to Dhulia’s family. The rest of the total Rs 10 lakh compensation amount would be provided after completion of necessary formalities.
Similarly, Bholeswar along with his four sons had gone to the nearby forest to collect mangoes when he was killed by a tusker. Angul RCCF Sanjay Kumar Swain said despite repeated warnings and widespread awareness, villagers are venturing into the forest during early morning hours and losing their lives. He informed that the Forest department is considering relocation of aggressive tuskers to enclosures for the safety of people living in fringe areas.