ANGUL: A 55-year-old man of Madhupur village under Bantala forest range was trampled to death by a wild elephant on Monday. The deceased has been identified as 55-year-old Kumuda Sahoo.
Angul DFO, Nitish Kumar said, Kumuda went to a nearby forest for grazing his goats but did not return by the afternoon. Worried, villagers started searching for him. To their shock, his body was found in the forest. After forest officials were informed, they rushed to the spot and pacified the irate villagers. “The victim’s family will initially be paid Rs 60,000 on Tuesday for funeral expenses and the remaining ex-gratia of Rs 6 lakh will be paid after completion of formalities,” Kumar informed.
The range now has about 36 elephants out of which a herd might have stayed near Madhupur village. We have taken multiple measures in the range area which registered the maximum number of human deaths by elephants. We will continue to ensure such incidents do not recur by educating people about elephant menace, the DFO added.