DHENKANAL: Days after four persons were killed in a tusker attack near Angul forest division, two others were on Saturday trampled to death by an elephant in Parjang area of Mabirod range under Dhenkanal forest division.
The deceased were identified as Alekh Naik (60) of Khalpal and Bari Naik (62) of Gandataila village. Sources said the tusker first killed Alekh and then after wandering for another seven to eight kilometre, trampled Bari in Gandataila village.
It then went into nearby Barabanka jungle.Resentment brewed among the locals following the two deaths who blamed the Forest department for the incident. They said the elephant had entered Kamakhyanagar town two days back.
Ranger Satya Narayan Sahoo said the tusker had been roaming in the Dihadol forest section for the last 15 days but had not harmed anyone. “It was being continuously tracked by our officials all this while. On Friday night, this jumbo along with another tusker broke into a liquor manufacturing shop in Dihadol and consumed the country liquor there,” he added.
“One of the tuskers entered Khalpal village in the morning and killed Alekh on the spot after coming face-to-face with him while he was attending nature’s call. Later it also trampled Bari to death in Gandataila village after wandering for some time,” the ranger said further adding that the deceased’s kin would be compensated with `4 lakh each.
As many as four persons were on January 7 trampled to death by an adult elephant that strayed into human settlements near Angul forest division. The deceased were of the age bracket of 45 to 60 years. While three died on the spot, the fourth person succumbed to injuries while being treated at the Angul hospital. An amount of `4 lakh each was paid to the deceased’s families as compensation after the mishap.