NUAPADA: A man died while his son was critically injured after being attacked by a wild bear inside the Bijakhaman forest under the Komna forest range in the district on Sunday morning. Following the incident, the nearby villagers blocked National Highway-353 demanding compensation for the family of the deceased. While the deceased was identified as Ghanshyam Patel (70), his injured son Chaetu Patel (48), is currently undergoing treatment at Nuapada district headquarters hospital (DHH).
According to reports, on Sunday morning, when the father-son duo was going to take a bath in the pond inside the forest near Birunpadar village, a bear suddenly emerged and attacked them. While the bear killed Ghanshyam on the spot, hearing the screams, the nearby villagers ran into the forest with lathis to ward off the bear. As they reached the spot, the bear fled but by then Chaetu was badly injured. He was rushed to Komna CHC and later shifted to Nuapada DHH for better treatment. The body of the deceased was also seized and sent for autopsy.
On the other hand, Birunpadar villagers blocked the NH-353, demanding the Forest department to pay a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased and bear the treatment cost of the injured. They also demanded the officials trap the bear and relocate it away from the Bijakhaman forest.
Vehicular movement was disrupted on NH-353 for over three hours until the divisional forest officer (DFO) Territorial, Khariar, Sushil Kumar Tripathy went to the spot to discuss with the agitators. They called off the protest after getting assurance that their demands will be considered. The DFO said, “The family will receive a compensation of Rs 6 lakh for the deceased family member and the injured would get compensation between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh depending on the extent of the injury. We will also take steps to relocate the bear from here.”