ROURKELA: A person was killed in elephant attack at Rosty village under Kinkirkela section of Ujjalpur range in Sundargarh’s Balishankara block on Sunday morning. This is the third such fatality in Sundargarh forest division within a month.
The deceased was identified as Murali Kharia (40). Sources said Murali along with his son and father-in-law had gone to a secluded place near the village to answer nature’s call. Due to low visibility, he could not see two elephants nearby. Murali was attacked by one of the elephants while his son and father-in-law escaped to safety. He was killed on the spot.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Sundargarh Pradeep Mirase said the victim had ignored warning about the presence of elephants in the nearby reserve forest leading to the incident. On November 8, another villager was killed in elephant attack under Ujjalpur range while on October 22, a person was killed in Rauldega section of Sundargarh Sadar range.
The DFO said usually, elephant herds from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh stray into Ujjalpur range. Due to the harvesting season and abundant availability of water, a herd of around 30 elephants has stayed put in the reserve forest near Rosty village. Though forest personnel are keeping a constant watch on the herd, the elephants on Saturday night formed three groups which created confusion about their exact location.
“The villagers are being warned about the elephants through public address system. They would be sensitised further on safety measures. Efforts would be made to install solar lights at some vulnerable sites and villagers would be provided torch lights,” Mirase added.