Sambalpur man held with two elephant tusks

A special squad of Deogarh police arrested a person for illegal possession of two elephant tusks on Monday. 
Elephant Tusks
Elephant Tusks

DEOGARH: A special squad of Deogarh police arrested a person for illegal possession of two elephant tusks on Monday. 

The accused was identified as Sunil Podh (26) of Ranikhinda village within Sasan police limits of Sambalpur district.

Police said on a tip off, a team led by SI B Mahji raided Prabhasuni village at around 5.30 am. On seeing police, the accused tried to escape but was caught after a brief chase. On search, police found a plastic bag containing the two tusks from his possession. 

The two tusks weigh 2.322 kg. Deogarh SP Raj Kishore Paikray said during interrogation, the accused confessed that he was trying to sell the tusks.

He had fixed a deal with a customer to sell the tusks for Rs 15 lakh. Efforts are on to trace the customer who was supposed to buy the wildlife items and the source from which Podh got the tusks. A case has been registered in this regard and further investigation is underway. 

Tusker kills man

Dhenkanal: A 54-year-old man was trampled to death by a tusker near Suravi village under Sadar forest range here on Monday. He was identified as Madhusudan Swain.  Sources said Swain was cycling to his workplace in Nababharat plant when he was confronted by three tuskers.

One of the elephants suddenly attacked him. Swain died on the spot. Suravi village is situated near Meramandali.

The incident sparked tension in the village as locals asked forest officials to chase away the elephants from the area immediately. Dhenkanal DFO PC Gogineni said the three elephants were part of a herd that came to Suravi village on Sunday night.

While postmortem of the deceased’s body has been done, compensation was provided to his family. Efforts are underway to drive the pachyderms to the nearby forest, he added.

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