ANGUL/BHUBANESWAR: In yet another incident of human-wildlife conflict, an adult elephant that strayed close to human settlements trampled four persons to death in Angul Forest Division early in the morning on Saturday.
The deceased are Subash Biswal from Chheliapada, Anirudhha Sahoo from Angarabandha, Ramesh Swain from Barasingha and Ajay Samal from Gada Santiri. All were in the age group of 45 to 60 years.
RCCF Angul M Yogajayanand said the elephant that strayed into crop fields and gardens of nearby villages in Angul range of the division attacked the persons early in the morning.
All deaths took place after 4.30 am, he said.
The RCCF said forest staff reached out to the families of the deceased persons, while the Angul Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) initiated the process for the early release of Rs 4 lakh compensation to these families after the incidents were reported.
“Around 10 per cent of this compensation will be released immediately,” Yogajayanand said.
He further said that the forest staff of Angul Division are on alert and constantly tracking the movement of the pachyderm that has now moved into the forests of Talcher range.
Giving more details, Angul DFO Vivek Kumar said the full-grown female elephant was a part of the 25-member herd moving in the Mandargiri reserve forest of Angul for the last few days.
“Last night the elephant got separated from the herd and moved towards fields of nearby villages where it had a direct encounter with four villagers,” he said.
Sources said the elephant first attacked Subash Biswal at a crop field in Chheliapada village. It then went to Angarabandha village where it attacked Anirudhha Sahoo who was working in his garden. Thereafter, the jumbo moved close to Barasingha and mauled Ramesh Swain who had gone to a nearby forest. It later attacked Ajay Samal in Gada Santiri.
Locals said the first three persons died on the spot in the attack, while the fourth person succumbed to the injuries while being taken to Angul hospital.
The incident triggered panic among locals in the entire Angul Range. The villages who alleged apathy on part of the forest department in preventing elephants from straying into crop fields and human settlements in the area demanded an early solution to the matter.
The Angul DFO said the field staff are continuously tracking the movement of the elephant which is heading towards the forests of Dhenkanal division. “Efforts are also on to bring down such conflicts in the division,” he said.