SAMBALPUR: A woman and her 12-year-old son were trampled to death by an elephant at Akhradanda village in Mahada panchayat under Jamankira forest range on the wee hours of Wednesday. The woman’s husband also sustained critical injuries in the incident.
The deceased Rina Munda (41) and her son Sahid Munda were asleep in a hut when the incident occurred. Rina’s 45-year-old husband Prasanta Munda is undergoing treatment at Kuchinda sub-divisional hospital.
Sources said the couple was working as labourers at a brick kiln in the village. They were sleeping with their son in a temporary hut where the bricks were kept for drying.
At around 3 am, the tusker, believed to be searching for food, went inside the hut, crushing Rina and Sahid to death. The jumbo then attacked Prasanta. On being informed by villagers, forest officials rushed to the spot. Divisional forest officer (DFO) Sambalpur, Sanjeet Kumar said the incident took place under Bamra division while the victims were residents of Sambalpur.
“Our team was sent to trace the elephant. Preliminary investigation suggests that it was a lone tusker who got separated from its herd and was moving from Sambalpur to Bamra. The team is tracking the tusker’s movement. Rengali forest range officer Harihar Patra said, the family belonged to Gandakana village of Rengloi panchayat. They were working at the kiln in Jamankira range.
“We have informed Bamra forest division officials about the incident and have initiated the process to disburse compensation to the kin of the deceased. While 20 per cent of the compensation will be disbursed within 48 hours, the rest will be provided after police submits its investigation.”
Sources said the same elephant has been on a depradation-spree in a number of forest fringe villages in Sambalpur and Jharsuguda districts in the last two days. At least 10 houses have been damaged by the tusker.